Cetera Investment Advisers Purchases 38,524 Shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC - Free Report) by 25.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 191,097 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 38,524 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers owned 0.11% of Hercules Capital worth $3,671,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ares Management LLC grew its position in Hercules Capital by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Ares Management LLC now owns 226,606 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,553,000 after buying an additional 28,300 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital during the 1st quarter valued at about $38,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 12.9% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 499,699 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $9,599,000 after purchasing an additional 56,932 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 2.0% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 32,832 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $631,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Hercules Capital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $14,871,000. 19.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hercules Capital Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE:HTGC traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $19.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 651,874 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,206,751. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 1.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.89 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.81. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 1 year low of $15.65 and a 1 year high of $22.04.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.03. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 16.54% and a net margin of 51.46%. The firm had revenue of $137.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $129.47 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be given a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 12th. This is an increase from Hercules Capital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.7%. Hercules Capital's dividend payout ratio is presently 105.96%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on HTGC. Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Hercules Capital in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. JMP Securities raised their price target on Hercules Capital from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Hercules Capital from $18.50 to $19.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $20.58.

Hercules Capital Company 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.