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

Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) saw a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,570,000 shares, a growth of 8.4% from the March 15th total of 5,140,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 933,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.0 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. NBC Securities Inc. grew its position in Hercules Capital by 154.8% during the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,594 shares during the last quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp grew its position in Hercules Capital by 220.3% during the 4th quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 2,883 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,983 shares during the last quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Hercules Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new stake in Hercules Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Hercules Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 19.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Compass Point lowered shares of Hercules Capital from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $17.00 to $17.50 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Hercules Capital has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.00.

Hercules Capital Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of Hercules Capital stock traded up $0.23 on Wednesday, reaching $18.22. The stock had a trading volume of 376,871 shares, compared to its average volume of 908,177. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $18.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.92. The company has a quick ratio of 2.75, a current ratio of 2.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Hercules Capital has a 1 year low of $12.40 and a 1 year high of $18.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.79 and a beta of 1.34.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.06. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 73.26% and a return on equity of 18.60%. The firm had revenue of $122.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.48 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Hercules Capital will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

Hercules Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.54%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 27th. Hercules Capital’s payout ratio is currently 69.26%.

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.