Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $15.65 and last traded at $17.49, with a volume of 2416634 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $16.24.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on HTGC shares. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Hercules Capital from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Hercules Capital in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Hercules Capital from $21.50 to $20.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Compass Point upped their price target on Hercules Capital from $18.25 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.70.

Hercules Capital Trading Down 0.1 %

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $19.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.72. The stock has a market cap of $2.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.45 and a beta of 1.13.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last released 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 business had revenue of $121.78 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $124.09 million. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 17.19% and a net margin of 53.28%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.18%. Hercules Capital’s payout ratio is 99.38%.

Institutional Trading of Hercules Capital

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Hercules Capital by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,438,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $69,078,000 after purchasing an additional 323,028 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its stake in Hercules Capital by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,815,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,558,000 after buying an additional 77,869 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 205.7% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,406,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,265,000 after buying an additional 946,700 shares during the period. Advisors Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 1,018,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,456,000 after buying an additional 62,610 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP grew its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 106.7% in the fourth 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 during the period. 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.