Aquatic Capital Management LLC Invests $2.08 Million in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 103,654 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,082,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC owned 0.06% of Hercules Capital at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $14,871,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Hercules Capital by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,438,447 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $69,078,000 after purchasing an additional 323,028 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Hercules Capital by 1,909.0% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 327,467 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,579,000 after purchasing an additional 311,167 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Hercules Capital during the fourth quarter worth $3,281,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 51.2% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 443,114 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,902,000 after buying an additional 150,136 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.69% of the company's stock.

Hercules Capital Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of HTGC traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $17.87. The stock had a trading volume of 1,270,066 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,064,743. The company has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.10 and a beta of 1.13. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $18.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.45. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 1-year low of $15.65 and a 1-year high of $22.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.72.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.01). Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 17.19% and a net margin of 53.28%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. The company's revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect 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 will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.96%. Hercules Capital's dividend payout ratio is currently 99.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Hercules Capital from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Hercules Capital in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Hercules Capital from $21.50 to $20.50 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $19.92.

About Hercules Capital

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.