Short Interest in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) Decreases By 5.3%

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on HTGC shares. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Hercules Capital in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hercules Capital

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Hercules Capital by 177.2% in the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 1,152 shares during the last quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP raised its holdings in Hercules Capital by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 43,077 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $865,000 after purchasing an additional 2,850 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its position in Hercules Capital by 90.4% during the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 20,229 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $406,000 after purchasing an additional 9,604 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 164,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,313,000 after purchasing an additional 24,673 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 382,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,678,000 after buying an additional 1,711 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 19.69% of the company’s stock.

Hercules Capital Stock Up 0.4 %

HTGC opened at $20.75 on Monday. Hercules Capital has a twelve month low of $16.72 and a twelve month high of $21.78. The firm has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.27 and a beta of 1.35. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 1.61.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 65.07% and a return on equity of 17.88%. The company had revenue of $125.25 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $125.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Hercules Capital will post 2.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.26%. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.21%.

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.