Inspire Investing LLC Lowers Stake in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

Inspire Investing LLC lessened its position in shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 826 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Hercules Capital were worth $450,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tectonic Advisors LLC grew its position in Hercules Capital by 17.0% during the third quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 433,032 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,505,000 after acquiring an additional 62,826 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in Hercules Capital by 77.0% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 31,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $647,000 after acquiring an additional 13,765 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Hercules Capital by 511.2% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 53,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,042,000 after acquiring an additional 44,386 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 9.3% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 406,985 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,993,000 after buying an additional 34,718 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 28.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 387,225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,667,000 after buying an additional 84,780 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 19.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Hercules Capital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $19.50 to $21.50 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Hercules Capital in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th.

Hercules Capital Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:HTGC opened at $21.07 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $16.72 and a one year high of $21.78. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.64. The stock has a market cap of $3.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.43 and a beta of 1.35.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.51. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 17.88% and a net margin of 65.07%. The business had revenue of $125.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $125.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 2.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.11%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. Hercules Capital’s payout ratio is currently 79.21%.

Hercules Capital 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.