DnB Asset Management AS Buys 13,859 Shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

DnB Asset Management AS boosted its stake in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) by 9.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 153,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,859 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS owned 0.09% of Hercules Capital worth $3,093,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 301.1% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 16,388 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 12,302 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Hercules Capital by 51.2% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 443,114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,902,000 after acquiring an additional 150,136 shares during the period. Modern Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Hercules Capital by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,036 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $290,000 after acquiring an additional 1,042 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 224.3% in the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 109,791 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,206,000 after acquiring an additional 75,939 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hercules Capital in the 4th quarter valued at about $324,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.69% of the company’s stock.

Hercules Capital Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE HTGC opened at $19.21 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.95 and a 52 week high of $22.04. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $20.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.83. The company has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.93 and a beta of 1.38.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 53.28% and a return on equity of 17.19%. The business had revenue of $121.78 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $124.09 million. As a group, equities 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.79%. Hercules Capital’s payout ratio is 99.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on HTGC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Hercules Capital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $19.50 to $21.50 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Compass Point lifted their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $18.25 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Hercules Capital in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Hercules Capital presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.