81,135 Shares in Hercules Capital, Inc. $HTGC Acquired by Quantbot Technologies LP

Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 81,135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,279,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 5.9% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 17,241 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 959 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Hercules Capital by 85.9% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 22,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $439,000 after buying an additional 10,559 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth raised its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 26.0% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 15,747 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $302,000 after buying an additional 3,250 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 81.8% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 4,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 2,151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 78,951 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,443,000 after acquiring an additional 1,252 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on HTGC shares. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH decreased their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group upped their target price on Hercules Capital from $15.00 to $15.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hercules Capital in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Hercules Capital from $16.50 to $17.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.46.

Hercules Capital Price Performance

HTGC stock opened at $17.61 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a one year low of $13.70 and a one year high of $19.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a PE ratio of 8.76 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $16.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.63.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.02. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 67.68% and a return on equity of 16.01%. The business had revenue of $134.41 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $146.71 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Hercules Capital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.1%. This is a boost from Hercules Capital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 11th. Hercules Capital’s payout ratio is 79.60%.

Hercules Capital Profile

Hercules Capital, Inc is a specialty finance company organized as a business development company (BDC) that provides tailored debt financing solutions to high‐growth companies. Through its external management structure, Hercules Capital extends senior secured loans, subordinated debt and growth capital designed to support research and development, expansion initiatives and working capital needs. The firm primarily partners with venture capital and private equity sponsors to finance innovative enterprises across various developmental stages.

The company’s investment portfolio is concentrated in technology, life sciences and sustainable and renewable technology sectors, reflecting its focus on industries with strong growth prospects and recurring capital requirements.