Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $21.05, but opened at $20.50. Hercules Capital shares last traded at $21.29, with a volume of 636,709 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Hercules Capital in a report on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Hercules Capital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $19.50 to $21.50 in a report on Thursday, December 12th.

Hercules Capital Stock Up 0.5 %

The company has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.50 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $20.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.62.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 17.88% and a net margin of 65.07%. Equities research analysts forecast that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 2.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.88%. Hercules Capital’s payout ratio is presently 79.21%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in 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 valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,152 shares in the last quarter. Estabrook Capital Management grew its stake in Hercules Capital by 239.0% in the fourth quarter. Estabrook Capital Management now owns 1,878 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,324 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in Hercules Capital by 59,650.0% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 2,386 shares in the last quarter. Archer Investment Corp grew its stake in Hercules Capital by 345.4% in the fourth quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 2,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,803 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Hercules Capital by 45.6% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,279 shares in the last quarter. 19.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Hercules Capital

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.