Wealthfront Advisers LLC Makes New Investment in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 48,602 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $976,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Inspire Advisors LLC raised its position in Hercules Capital by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 21,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $423,000 after buying an additional 2,385 shares during the last quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC raised its position in Hercules Capital by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 158,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,176,000 after buying an additional 20,156 shares during the last quarter. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in Hercules Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $305,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in Hercules Capital by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 94,122 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,891,000 after buying an additional 11,279 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 199.6% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 4,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 2,693 shares in the last quarter. 19.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Hercules Capital Price Performance

Hercules Capital stock opened at $18.54 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $20.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.79. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.51 and a beta of 1.38. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.95 and a 1 year high of $22.04.

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

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 10.14%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 99.38%.

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.