Magnetar Financial LLC Buys New Shares in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 16,113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $324,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Left Brain Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 32.2% during the 4th quarter. Left Brain Wealth Management LLC now owns 275,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,542,000 after purchasing an additional 67,215 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 511.2% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 53,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,042,000 after purchasing an additional 44,386 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 28.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 387,225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,667,000 after purchasing an additional 84,780 shares during the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 493,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,921,000 after purchasing an additional 60,776 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 56.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 18,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 6,792 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 19.69% of the company’s stock.

Hercules Capital Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of HTGC opened at $19.26 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.96 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.79. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.95 and a twelve month high of $22.04.

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

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.76%. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio is 99.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.