Van ECK Associates Corp Acquires 298,992 Shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) by 11.8% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,824,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 298,992 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Hercules Capital were worth $57,768,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of HTGC. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL acquired a new position in shares of Hercules Capital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $998,000. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital in the 4th quarter valued at $677,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 1,920.8% in the 1st quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 221,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,078,000 after purchasing an additional 210,112 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in Hercules Capital by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 221,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,701,000 after purchasing an additional 18,473 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Napa Wealth Management acquired a new position in Hercules Capital in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,465,000. Institutional investors own 19.69% of the company’s stock.

Hercules Capital Stock Up 1.5 %

HTGC traded up $0.28 on Friday, hitting $19.17. 714,496 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 982,703. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.02 and a 12 month high of $21.78. The company has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a PE ratio of 8.71 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 2.47 and a current ratio of 2.47. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $19.95 and its 200-day moving average is $19.22.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.51. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 18.22% and a net margin of 57.82%. The business had revenue of $125.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $124.99 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 2.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 13th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.02%. Hercules Capital’s payout ratio is presently 72.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HTGC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Hercules Capital from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. JMP Securities upped their price objective on 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 upped their price objective on Hercules Capital from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hercules Capital currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Nikos Theodosopoulos bought 1,608 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $18.03 per share, for a total transaction of $28,992.24. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 5,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,202.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Hercules Capital news, Director Robert P. Badavas sold 1,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $82,986.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Nikos Theodosopoulos acquired 1,608 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $18.03 per share, for a total transaction of $28,992.24. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,202.39. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.