Short Interest in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) Decreases By 16.1%

Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) was the target of a large drop in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 4,590,000 shares, a drop of 16.1% from the February 13th total of 5,470,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,110,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.1 days. Currently, 2.7% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hercules Capital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Hercules Capital by 177.2% during the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,152 shares in the last quarter. Estabrook Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 239.0% in the 4th 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 during the period. Archer Investment Corp grew its position in Hercules Capital by 345.4% during 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, Quarry LP purchased a new position in Hercules Capital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on HTGC. Compass Point increased 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 upgraded Hercules Capital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $19.50 to $21.50 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Hercules Capital in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hercules Capital presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.40.

Hercules Capital Stock Performance

Shares of Hercules Capital stock traded up $0.03 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $18.97. 1,223,356 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,002,820. Hercules Capital has a 12 month low of $16.95 and a 12 month high of $22.04. The stock has a market cap of $3.29 billion, a PE ratio of 11.78 and a beta of 1.38. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $20.36 and its 200 day moving average 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.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last posted 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 business had revenue of $121.78 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $124.09 million. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 53.28% and a return on equity of 17.19%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hercules Capital will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.91%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 99.38%.

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.