Short Interest in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) Grows By 35.3%

Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,210,000 shares, an increase of 35.3% from the February 28th total of 4,590,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,180,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.3 days. Currently, 3.7% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Hercules Capital Stock Down 0.6 %

HTGC stock traded down $0.12 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $19.10. The stock had a trading volume of 1,191,064 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,006,869. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $20.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.82. The company has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.86 and a beta of 1.38. Hercules Capital has a 1-year low of $16.95 and a 1-year high of $22.04.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.49. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 17.19% and a net margin of 53.28%. The business had revenue of $121.78 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $124.09 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Hercules Capital will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.85%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. Hercules Capital’s payout ratio is currently 99.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Hercules Capital in a 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 price objective for the stock from $19.50 to $21.50 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Compass Point raised their target price on shares of Hercules Capital from $18.25 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Hercules Capital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.40.

Institutional Trading of Hercules Capital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Hercules Capital by 511.2% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 53,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,042,000 after acquiring an additional 44,386 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Hercules Capital in the third quarter worth about $274,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in Hercules Capital by 2.4% in the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 137,868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,708,000 after buying an additional 3,239 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in Hercules Capital by 3.7% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 21,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $417,000 after buying an additional 763 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Hercules Capital by 4.7% during the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 61,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,215,000 after buying an additional 2,787 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 19.69% of the company’s stock.

Hercules Capital Company 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.