Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) Short Interest Update

Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 4,590,000 shares, a decrease of 16.1% from the February 13th total of 5,470,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,110,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.1 days. Currently, 2.7% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Hercules Capital Stock Performance

NYSE:HTGC traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $18.97. 1,223,356 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,002,820. The company has a 50-day moving average of $20.36 and a 200 day moving average of $19.79. Hercules Capital has a 1-year low of $16.95 and a 1-year high of $22.04. 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 market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.78 and a beta of 1.38.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $121.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $124.09 million. Research analysts anticipate that Hercules Capital will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.91%. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.38%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HTGC. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Hercules Capital during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 177.2% during the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 1,152 shares during the last quarter. Estabrook Capital Management raised its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 239.0% in the 4th quarter. Estabrook Capital Management now owns 1,878 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 1,324 shares during the period. Archer Investment Corp boosted its holdings in Hercules Capital by 345.4% in the fourth quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 2,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,803 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Hercules Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. 19.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.