Robert Badavas Purchases 5,000 Shares of Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) Stock

Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) Director Robert Badavas purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $14.27 per share, with a total value of $71,350.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 122,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,741,981.71. The trade was a 4.27% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Hercules Capital Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HTGC opened at $14.22 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $17.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.17. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 52 week low of $14.10 and a 52 week high of $21.14. The stock has a market cap of $2.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.77 and a beta of 0.84.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 63.80% and a return on equity of 15.97%. The company had revenue of $133.25 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $141.57 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, research 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 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 25th. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio is 87.43%.

Institutional Trading of Hercules Capital

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Hercules Capital by 81.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 79,650 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,499,000 after buying an additional 35,722 shares during the period. Rare Wolf Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,036,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $123,000. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Hercules Capital by 29.8% in the fourth quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 42,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $799,000 after purchasing an additional 9,750 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Hercules Capital by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,461 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $630,000 after purchasing an additional 2,039 shares during the last quarter. 19.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Hercules Capital News

Here are the key news stories impacting Hercules Capital this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple insiders (CEO Scott Bluestein, CFO Seth Meyer and several directors) bought stock this week — collectively over ~46,000 shares — signaling management confidence at current levels. See the CEO’s SEC filing for details. CEO SEC Filing
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts have modestly lowered fair-value estimates and price targets (examples: consolidated fair value trimmed from ~$21.22 to ~$20.31; several firms trimmed targets and ratings), a recalibration rather than a wholesale downgrade of the thesis. Analyst Note
• Negative Sentiment: Unusual bearish options flow — investors bought ~28,062 put contracts (a >1,200% jump vs typical daily put volume) — a strong short-term bearish signal that can amplify downward pressure.
• Negative Sentiment: Hercules cut its quarterly dividend to $0.07 (annualized $0.28), reducing income appeal for yield‑seeking investors and increasing concern about payout sustainability (payout ratio ~87%). See company data and dividend details. MarketBeat HTGC
• Negative Sentiment: Recent analyst downgrades and price‑target cuts (Wells Fargo, Keefe Bruyette & Woods, Piper Sandler and others) have pressured sentiment and likely contributed to selling. Analyst Coverage

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on HTGC. Capital One Financial set a $19.75 price objective on Hercules Capital in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings cut Hercules Capital from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Lucid Cap Mkts upgraded shares of Hercules Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Hercules Capital from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $20.50 to $17.50 in a report on Friday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hercules Capital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.29.

Hercules Capital Company 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.