Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Raises Stock Holdings in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

Key Points

• Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Hercules Capital, Inc. by 126.2% during the first quarter, owning approximately 369,368 shares worth around $7.1 million.
• Hercules Capital announced a quarterly dividend of $0.47, an increase from the prior $0.40 dividend, reflecting a yield of 9.7%.
• The company reported earnings of $0.50 EPS, exceeding expectations, and a revenue of $137.46 million, which is a 10% increase from the previous year.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC - Free Report) by 126.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 369,368 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 206,066 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.21% of Hercules Capital worth $7,096,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of HTGC. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its stake in Hercules Capital by 2.1% in the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,874,455 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $55,218,000 after purchasing an additional 59,241 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 205.7% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,406,900 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $28,265,000 after buying an additional 946,700 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 14.5% in the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,130,362 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $21,714,000 after buying an additional 143,042 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 106.7% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 945,849 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $19,002,000 after buying an additional 488,172 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in Hercules Capital by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 788,353 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $15,839,000 after purchasing an additional 23,783 shares during the period. 19.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on HTGC shares. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Hercules Capital from $18.50 to $19.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Hercules Capital in a report on Monday, August 4th. JMP Securities increased their target price on Hercules Capital from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $20.58.

Hercules Capital Trading Down 0.4%

Hercules Capital stock traded down $0.09 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $19.36. The company had a trading volume of 1,014,451 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,213,978. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.68. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $18.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.77. The firm has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.82 and a beta of 0.94. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.65 and a 12-month high of $22.04.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $129.47 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.51 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Hercules Capital Increases Dividend

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

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.