Wedbush Securities Inc. Invests $211,000 in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Apr 19th, 2023

Wedbush Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC – Get Rating) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 15,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kovack Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 3.3% in the third quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 31,023 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $359,000 after buying an additional 1,002 shares during the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp lifted its holdings in Hercules Capital by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 174,272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,304,000 after purchasing an additional 13,552 shares during the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its position in Hercules Capital by 2,200.0% during the third quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 2,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Hercules Capital in the third quarter valued at $128,000. Finally, FAS Wealth Partners raised its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 2.1% in the third quarter. FAS Wealth Partners now owns 159,621 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,848,000 after purchasing an additional 3,222 shares during the period. 23.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hercules Capital Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE HTGC opened at $12.90 on Wednesday. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 52 week low of $10.94 and a 52 week high of $19.09. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $13.69 and its 200 day moving average is $13.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.97 and a beta of 1.41.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.05. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 31.73% and a return on equity of 13.87%. The firm had revenue of $100.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $91.34 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 1st. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.09%. This is a boost from Hercules Capital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Hercules Capital’s payout ratio is 205.27%.

Insider Transactions at Hercules Capital

In other news, Director Wade Loo acquired 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $11.95 per share, with a total value of $47,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 8,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $96,305.05. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HTGC has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Hercules Capital in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Hercules Capital in a research note on Monday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Hercules Capital from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $14.50 to $10.50 in a research note on Monday, March 13th. Piper Sandler upgraded Hercules Capital from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $16.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Hercules Capital from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.14.

Hercules Capital Company Profile

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Hercules is the largest non-bank lender to venture capital-backed companies at all stages of development in a broadly diversified variety of technology, life sciences, and sustainable and renewable technology industries. With over a decade of experience in venture debt, Hercules is uniquely positioned to quickly create innovative financing solutions that perfectly fit within a company’s existing capital structure and map to its business objectives.