Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) Shares Acquired by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) by 12.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 499,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 56,932 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Hercules Capital were worth $9,599,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Estabrook Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 239.0% during the 4th quarter. Estabrook Capital Management now owns 1,878 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,324 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hercules Capital during the 1st quarter worth $38,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Hercules Capital during the 4th quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Hercules Capital during the 4th quarter worth $80,000. 19.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hercules Capital

In other Hercules Capital news, Director Nikos Theodosopoulos bought 5,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $17.49 per share, with a total value of $104,922.51. Following the transaction, the director owned 11,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $209,180.40. The trade was a 100.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HTGC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Hercules Capital from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Hercules Capital from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Hercules Capital from $21.50 to $20.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.92.

Hercules Capital Stock Performance

Shares of Hercules Capital stock opened at $18.61 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $17.84 and a 200 day moving average of $18.95. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.65 and a 12 month high of $22.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.99 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 2.38 and a quick ratio of 2.38.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.01). Hercules Capital had a net margin of 45.23% and a return on equity of 16.84%. The firm had revenue of $102.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $125.43 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.60%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 120.30%.

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.