Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Purchases 12,302 Shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) by 301.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 16,388 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,302 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Hercules Capital were worth $329,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 177.2% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,152 shares during the last quarter. Archer Investment Corp grew its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 345.4% in the 4th quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 2,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 1,803 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 199.6% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 4,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 2,693 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 86.6% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,634 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $133,000 after acquiring an additional 3,079 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Enterprises LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hercules Capital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $207,000. 19.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hercules Capital Stock Performance

NYSE:HTGC opened at $18.43 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.95 and a twelve month high of $22.04. The company has a fifty day moving average of $20.09 and a 200-day moving average of $19.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.44 and a beta of 1.13.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.49. The firm had revenue of $121.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $124.09 million. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 53.28% and a return on equity of 17.19%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.20%. Hercules Capital’s payout ratio is currently 99.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on HTGC. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Hercules Capital in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Hercules Capital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $19.50 to $21.50 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Compass Point increased their price target on Hercules Capital from $18.25 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.40.

Hercules Capital Profile

Hercules Capital, Inc is a business development company. The firm specializing in providing venture debt, debt, senior secured loans, and growth capital to privately held venture capital-backed companies at all stages of development from startups to expansion stage including select publicly listed companies and select special opportunity lower middle market companies that require additional capital to fund acquisitions, recapitalizations and refinancing and established-stage companies.