Naviter Wealth LLC Acquires 26,367 Shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

Naviter Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC - Free Report) by 16.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 184,454 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 26,367 shares during the quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC owned about 0.11% of Hercules Capital worth $3,553,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in Hercules Capital in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Estabrook Capital Management raised its stake in Hercules Capital by 239.0% in the fourth quarter. Estabrook Capital Management now owns 1,878 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 1,324 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Hercules Capital in the first quarter worth about $38,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Hercules Capital in the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Hercules Capital during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 19.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HTGC has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Hercules Capital from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Hercules Capital from $21.50 to $20.50 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Hercules Capital from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, 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 research report on Thursday, April 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hercules Capital has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $19.92.

Insider Activity at Hercules Capital

In other news, Director Nikos Theodosopoulos acquired 5,999 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $17.49 per share, for a total transaction of $104,922.51. Following the acquisition, 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 ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hercules Capital Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE HTGC traded up $0.25 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $18.59. The company had a trading volume of 1,380,196 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,117,897. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.65 and a 12-month high of $22.04. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The business's 50-day moving average is $17.81 and its 200 day moving average is $18.96. The stock has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a PE ratio of 13.98 and a beta of 0.93.

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). The firm had revenue of $102.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $125.43 million. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 16.84% and a net margin of 45.23%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.61%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. Hercules Capital's payout ratio is 120.30%.

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.