Sigma Planning Corp Raises Holdings in Hercules Capital, Inc. $HTGC

Sigma Planning Corp lifted its stake in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,791 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,980 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Hercules Capital were worth $910,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Hercules Capital by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 804,077 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,446,000 after purchasing an additional 15,724 shares in the last quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital during the first quarter valued at $279,000. Trexquant Investment LP increased its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 15.3% in the 1st quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 123,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,376,000 after acquiring an additional 16,374 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Hercules Capital by 35.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 111,212 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,136,000 after acquiring an additional 28,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Hercules Capital by 185.4% during the 1st quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 35,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $686,000 after acquiring an additional 23,202 shares during the period. 19.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hercules Capital Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HTGC opened at $17.80 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.78 and a beta of 0.95. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.65 and a 12 month high of $22.04. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $18.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.68.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.01. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 51.46% and a return on equity of 16.54%. The firm had revenue of $138.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $136.95 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. Analysts expect that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 12th. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 93.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hercules Capital

In other Hercules Capital news, Director Gayle A. Crowell purchased 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $17.77 per share, for a total transaction of $106,620.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 78,727 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,398,978.79. This trade represents a 8.25% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Hercules Capital in a report on Friday, October 31st. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Hercules Capital in a report on Monday, August 4th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $19.00 to $18.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Hercules Capital from $21.00 to $20.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hercules Capital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.42.

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.