DNB Asset Management AS Raises Stock Holdings in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

DNB Asset Management AS lifted its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) by 17.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 135,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,626 shares during the period. DNB Asset Management AS owned 0.08% of Hercules Capital worth $2,766,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of HTGC. NBC Securities Inc. raised its stake in Hercules Capital by 154.8% during the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,594 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $53,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 789 shares during the period. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in Hercules Capital in the 4th quarter valued at $56,000. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Hercules Capital by 28.9% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 806 shares during the period. 19.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Hercules Capital

In other news, Director Robert P. Badavas sold 13,300 shares of Hercules Capital stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.69, for a total transaction of $261,877.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,234 shares in the company, valued at $83,367.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Hercules Capital news, Director Robert P. Badavas sold 13,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.69, for a total transaction of $261,877.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $83,367.46. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert P. Badavas sold 1,700 shares of the firm’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 sale, the director now owns 4,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $82,986.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Hercules Capital Price Performance

Shares of HTGC stock traded up $0.73 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $18.44. The stock had a trading volume of 1,995,187 shares, compared to its average volume of 966,102. The company has a market cap of $2.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.38 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.02 and a 12-month high of $21.78. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.09.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.51. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 57.82% and a return on equity of 18.22%. The firm had revenue of $125.01 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $124.99 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Hercules Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th will be given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.41%. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on HTGC. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Hercules Capital from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. JMP Securities boosted their target price 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, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.00.

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.