DNB Asset Management AS Buys 19,626 Shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

DNB Asset Management AS lifted its stake in shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) by 17.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 135,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,626 shares during the quarter. DNB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Hercules Capital were worth $2,766,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,594 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Hercules Capital in the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 30.4% in 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. acquired a new position in shares of Hercules Capital during the 4th quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Hercules Capital by 28.9% during the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 806 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on HTGC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target 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. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, JMP Securities raised 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Hercules Capital Price Performance

Shares of Hercules Capital stock traded up $0.73 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $18.44. 1,995,187 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 966,102. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.02 and a fifty-two week high of $21.78. The company has a market cap of $2.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.38 and a beta of 1.39. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.09. 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 (NYSE:HTGC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.51. The company had revenue of $125.01 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $124.99 million. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 57.82% and a return on equity of 18.22%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 2.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Dividend Announcement

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

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.