Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) Short Interest Update

Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) was the target of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,210,000 shares, an increase of 35.3% from the February 28th total of 4,590,000 shares. Approximately 3.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,180,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.3 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Hercules Capital Stock Down 0.2 %

HTGC stock traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $19.22. The company had a trading volume of 694,913 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,004,019. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.72. The company has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.94 and a beta of 1.38. Hercules Capital has a 52 week low of $16.95 and a 52 week high of $22.04. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.83.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49. The business had revenue of $121.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $124.09 million. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 17.19% and a net margin of 53.28%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Hercules Capital will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given 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 9.78%. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.38%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hercules Capital

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 205.7% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,406,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,265,000 after purchasing an additional 946,700 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in Hercules Capital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $14,871,000. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 106.7% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 945,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,002,000 after acquiring an additional 488,172 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 1,834.7% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 429,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,621,000 after purchasing an additional 406,944 shares during the period. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Hercules Capital in the 4th quarter worth $7,755,000. 19.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.