Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) Stake Trimmed by Good Life Advisors LLC

Good Life Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) by 50.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 14,498 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,498 shares during the period. Good Life Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hercules Capital were worth $291,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Hercules Capital by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,438,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $69,078,000 after acquiring an additional 323,028 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in Hercules Capital by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,815,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,558,000 after acquiring an additional 77,869 shares in the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC grew its stake in Hercules Capital by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 493,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,921,000 after acquiring an additional 60,776 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in Hercules Capital by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 442,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,895,000 after acquiring an additional 41,634 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Muzinich & Co. Inc. grew its stake in Hercules Capital by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 408,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,020,000 after acquiring an additional 36,886 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 19.69% of the company’s stock.

Hercules Capital Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of Hercules Capital stock opened at $21.50 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.35 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.72. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.95 and a 52-week high of $22.04. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.67.

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

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be issued a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.75%. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 99.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HTGC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Compass Point lifted their target price on Hercules Capital from $18.25 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Hercules Capital in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Hercules Capital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $19.50 to $21.50 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.40.

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.