Hercules Capital, Inc. $HTGC Shares Bought by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in Hercules Capital by 9.7%, now owning approximately $12.37 million in shares.
• Multiple institutional investors have also increased their positions, with Eagle Global Advisors boosting its stake by 43.9% during the same quarter.
• Hercules Capital declared a quarterly dividend of $0.47, marking an increase from the previous $0.40, resulting in a yield of 9.6%.

Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC - Free Report) by 9.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 644,217 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 56,758 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.37% of Hercules Capital worth $12,375,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of HTGC. Bessemer Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hercules Capital during the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Hercules Capital by 12.9% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 499,699 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $9,599,000 after acquiring an additional 56,932 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 628 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 26.5% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 22,405 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $432,000 after acquiring an additional 4,688 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Hercules Capital by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 325,912 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,548,000 after purchasing an additional 28,812 shares during the period. 19.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hercules Capital Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of HTGC stock traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $19.28. 376,254 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,183,834. The stock's 50 day moving average is $19.06 and its 200-day moving average is $18.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.65 and a fifty-two week high of $22.04. The company has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.76 and a beta of 0.95.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $137.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $129.47 million. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 16.54% and a net margin of 51.46%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.8%. This is an increase from Hercules Capital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Hercules Capital's payout ratio is presently 105.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Hercules Capital in a report on Monday, August 4th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Hercules Capital from $18.50 to $19.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $20.58.

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.