Sigma Planning Corp Grows Position in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

Sigma Planning Corp lifted its holdings in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) by 8.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,898 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Hercules Capital were worth $956,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of HTGC. Morse Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Hercules Capital by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 34,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $685,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 62,259 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,251,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 2.7% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 27,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $540,000 after purchasing an additional 711 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in Hercules Capital by 3.7% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 21,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $417,000 after purchasing an additional 763 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV raised its stake in Hercules Capital by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 92,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,857,000 after purchasing an additional 799 shares during the period. 19.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Hercules Capital Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE HTGC opened at $21.24 on Wednesday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $20.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.73. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.95 and a 52-week high of $22.04. The firm has a market cap of $3.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.19 and a beta of 1.35.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.49. The firm had revenue of $121.78 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $124.09 million. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 17.19% and a net margin of 53.28%. Research analysts predict that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be paid 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%.

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.