FourThought Financial Partners LLC Acquires New Stake in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

FourThought Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 15,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $305,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of HTGC. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 177.2% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,152 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Hercules Capital by 59,650.0% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 2,386 shares in the last quarter. Archer Investment Corp boosted its position in Hercules Capital by 345.4% in the 4th quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 2,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 1,803 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 45.6% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 1,279 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hercules Capital in the third quarter worth $114,000. 19.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hercules Capital Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE HTGC opened at $21.24 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $20.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.73. The company has a market capitalization of $3.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.19 and a beta of 1.35. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.95 and a 1 year high of $22.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.72.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.49. The firm had revenue of $121.78 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $124.09 million. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 17.19% and a net margin of 53.28%. On average, analysts forecast that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be issued a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.85%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. Hercules Capital’s payout ratio is 99.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on HTGC. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Hercules Capital in a report on Friday, February 14th. Compass Point lifted their price objective on Hercules Capital from $18.25 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Hercules Capital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $19.50 to $21.50 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.40.

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.