Investors Purchase Large Volume of Hercules Capital Put Options (NYSE:HTGC)

Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders acquired 8,000 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 886% compared to the typical daily volume of 811 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Hercules Capital Trading Down 4.9 %

Shares of NYSE:HTGC traded down $0.98 on Wednesday, reaching $18.99. 4,141,331 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 972,039. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.78 and a beta of 1.35. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.80. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Hercules Capital has a 52 week low of $16.95 and a 52 week high of $22.04.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.49. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 17.19% and a net margin of 53.28%. The business had revenue of $121.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $124.09 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Hercules Capital will post 1.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be paid a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.90%. Hercules Capital’s payout ratio is presently 99.38%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HTGC. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in Hercules Capital by 205.7% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,406,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,265,000 after acquiring an additional 946,700 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Hercules Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $14,871,000. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 106.7% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 945,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,002,000 after acquiring an additional 488,172 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 1,834.7% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 429,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,621,000 after purchasing an additional 406,944 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Hercules Capital during the fourth quarter valued at $7,755,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 19.69% of the company’s stock.

Hercules Capital Company Profile

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.