Grimes & Company Inc. Makes New Investment in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

Grimes & Company Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 10,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $185,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of HTGC. NBC Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 154.8% in the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,594 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Hercules Capital in the 4th quarter valued at about $53,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 789 shares during the period. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Hercules Capital in the 4th quarter valued at about $56,000. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hercules Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at about $66,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.69% of the company’s stock.

Hercules Capital Stock Performance

Hercules Capital stock traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $20.45. 851,501 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 696,821. The firm has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.30 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $19.54 and a 200 day moving average of $18.28. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 12 month low of $14.52 and a 12 month high of $20.57.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 18.35% and a net margin of 69.98%. The firm had revenue of $121.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $121.86 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.47 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Hercules Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th were given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.39%. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio is 72.73%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert P. Badavas sold 13,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.69, for a total value of $261,877.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $83,367.46. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Robert P. Badavas sold 1,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.60, for a total value of $33,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,234 shares in the company, valued at $82,986.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert P. Badavas sold 13,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.69, for a total value of $261,877.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $83,367.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on HTGC. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Hercules Capital from $19.50 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. JMP Securities boosted their price target on Hercules Capital from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Hercules Capital from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Hercules Capital from $21.00 to $21.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hercules Capital presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.56.

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.