Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Takes $684,000 Position in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 34,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $684,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of HTGC. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Hercules Capital by 10.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 323,028 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in Hercules Capital by 2.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 77,869 shares in the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC increased its stake in Hercules Capital by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 493,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,921,000 after purchasing an additional 60,776 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in Hercules Capital by 10.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 41,634 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Muzinich & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Hercules Capital by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 408,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,020,000 after purchasing an additional 36,886 shares in the last quarter. 19.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hercules Capital Price Performance

HTGC stock opened at $21.40 on Tuesday. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.95 and a 52-week high of $22.04. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.71. The company has a quick ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.29 and a beta of 1.35.

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, 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 business had revenue of $121.78 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $124.09 million. Equities research analysts expect that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.79%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 99.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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