Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,190,000 shares, a drop of 5.3% from the December 31st total of 5,480,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,010,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.1 days.

Hercules Capital Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:HTGC traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $21.01. 760,669 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 920,151. Hercules Capital has a 12-month low of $16.95 and a 12-month high of $21.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.40 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $19.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.62.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HTGC has been the topic of a number of research reports. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Hercules Capital in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Hercules Capital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $19.50 to $21.50 in a report on Thursday, December 12th.

Institutional Trading of Hercules Capital

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Hercules Capital by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,438,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $69,078,000 after acquiring an additional 323,028 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,815,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,558,000 after purchasing an additional 77,869 shares in the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 493,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,921,000 after purchasing an additional 60,776 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 442,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,895,000 after purchasing an additional 41,634 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Muzinich & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 408,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,020,000 after purchasing an additional 36,886 shares in the last quarter. 19.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.