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

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

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew 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 increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,803 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Hercules Capital by 45.6% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 1,279 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 2,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Hercules Capital by 86.6% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,634 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $133,000 after purchasing an additional 3,079 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 19.69% of the company’s stock.

Hercules Capital Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of HTGC opened at $19.21 on Tuesday. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.95 and a fifty-two week high of $22.04. The business has a 50-day moving average of $20.21 and a 200 day moving average of $19.83. The firm has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.93 and a beta of 1.38. 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 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 net margin of 53.28% and a return on equity of 17.19%. The firm had revenue of $121.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $124.09 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.79%. Hercules Capital’s payout ratio is 99.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Hercules Capital in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Compass Point lifted their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $18.25 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Hercules Capital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $19.50 to $21.50 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hercules Capital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.40.

Hercules Capital 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.