Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) shares gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $19.80, but opened at $19.22. Hercules Capital shares last traded at $19.24, with a volume of 352,613 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on HTGC. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.83.

Hercules Capital Trading Down 0.8 %

The firm has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a PE ratio of 9.43 and a beta of 1.39. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $19.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.51. The company had revenue of $125.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $125.80 million. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 65.07% and a return on equity of 17.88%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.08%. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.21%.

Insider Transactions at Hercules Capital

In other news, CEO Scott Bluestein sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.59, for a total value of $1,959,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,161,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,338,045.13. This represents a 4.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTGC. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 21,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $417,000 after acquiring an additional 763 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 137,868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,708,000 after buying an additional 3,239 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $274,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Hercules Capital by 511.2% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 53,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,042,000 after purchasing an additional 44,386 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 7.1% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 283,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,575,000 after buying an additional 18,823 shares in the last quarter. 19.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.