Bank of New York Mellon Corp Grows Stock Holdings in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

Key Points

• Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Hercules Capital by 35.0%, owning 111,212 shares valued at approximately $2.14 million after acquiring additional shares in the first quarter.
• Hercules Capital's stock has recently faced downward pressure, with shares opening at $19.14 and a 1.5% decrease noted, despite a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts.
• The company has cut its dividend to $0.40 per share, reflecting a significant payout ratio of 120.30%, indicating the need to balance returns with financial sustainability.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC - Free Report) by 35.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 111,212 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 28,832 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.06% of Hercules Capital worth $2,136,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in HTGC. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in Hercules Capital in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Estabrook Capital Management raised its holdings in Hercules Capital by 239.0% in 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 Hercules Capital in the 1st quarter valued at about $38,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Hercules Capital in the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Hercules Capital in the 4th quarter valued at about $80,000. 19.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on HTGC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $21.50 to $20.50 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $18.50 to $19.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $20.25.

Insider Activity at Hercules Capital

In other Hercules Capital news, Director Nikos Theodosopoulos purchased 5,999 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $17.49 per share, for a total transaction of $104,922.51. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 11,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $209,180.40. The trade was a 100.64% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hercules Capital Trading Up 2.2%

Hercules Capital stock traded up $0.41 during trading on Friday, hitting $19.17. The company had a trading volume of 819,603 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,205,467. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 1-year low of $15.65 and a 1-year high of $22.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.38, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $18.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.85. The stock has a market cap of $3.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.39 and a beta of 0.93.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.03. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 45.23% and a return on equity of 16.84%. The firm had revenue of $137.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $129.47 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be paid a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.8%. This is a positive change from Hercules Capital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 12th. Hercules Capital's payout ratio is presently 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.