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

Shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $19.80, but opened at $19.22. Hercules Capital shares last traded at $19.24, with a volume of 352,613 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hercules Capital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.83.

Hercules Capital Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $19.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.54 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 65.07% and a return on equity of 17.88%. The business had revenue of $125.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $125.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.99%. Hercules Capital’s payout ratio is 79.21%.

Insider Transactions at Hercules Capital

In other Hercules Capital news, CEO Scott Bluestein sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.59, for a total value of $1,959,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,161,207 shares in the company, valued at $42,338,045.13. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HTGC. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Hercules Capital by 1,861.8% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 407,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $79,960,000 after purchasing an additional 386,367 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its stake in Hercules Capital by 2,067.0% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 353,221 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 336,921 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Hercules Capital by 11.8% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,824,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,768,000 after purchasing an additional 298,992 shares in the last quarter. TrueMark Investments LLC bought a new stake in Hercules Capital during the second quarter worth about $3,015,000. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 521.7% in the 1st quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 123,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,273,000 after purchasing an additional 103,374 shares in the last quarter. 19.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.