Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $19.97, but opened at $19.31. Hercules Capital shares last traded at $19.00, with a volume of 946,007 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on HTGC shares. Compass Point lifted their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $18.25 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Hercules Capital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $19.50 to $21.50 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Hercules Capital in a report on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.40.

Hercules Capital Trading Down 5.0 %

The stock has a market cap of $3.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.78 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a current ratio of 2.72. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.80.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.49. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 53.28% and a return on equity of 17.19%. The company had revenue of $121.78 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $124.09 million. Equities research analysts expect that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be given a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.91%. Hercules Capital’s payout ratio is 99.38%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HTGC. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,438,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $69,078,000 after acquiring an additional 323,028 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,815,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,558,000 after buying an additional 77,869 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 205.7% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,406,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,265,000 after acquiring an additional 946,700 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 1,018,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,456,000 after acquiring an additional 62,610 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its holdings in Hercules Capital by 106.7% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 945,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,002,000 after acquiring an additional 488,172 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.