Advisors Asset Management Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 406,191 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 794 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.25% of Hercules Capital worth $8,160,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Hercules Capital by 177.2% in the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,152 shares in the last quarter. Archer Investment Corp boosted its holdings 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 worth $47,000 after buying an additional 1,803 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,279 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 199.6% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 4,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 2,693 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 86.6% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,634 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $133,000 after acquiring an additional 3,079 shares during the period. 19.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hercules Capital Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HTGC opened at $18.94 on Wednesday. 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 1 year low of $16.95 and a 1 year high of $22.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.28 billion, a PE ratio of 11.76 and a beta of 1.38. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $20.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.80.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.49. The company had revenue of $121.78 million for 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, 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 firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.93%. Hercules Capital’s payout ratio is 99.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.