Royal Bank of Canada Acquires 15,724 Shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. $HTGC

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Hercules Capital, owning 804,077 shares worth approximately $15.45 million, following a 2.0% rise in holdings during the first quarter.
• Hercules Capital's recent quarterly earnings report showed a 10% year-over-year revenue increase, with earnings per share of $0.50, exceeding expectations.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.47 per share, reflecting a 9.7% yield, which is an increase from the previous dividend of $0.40.

Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC - Free Report) by 2.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 804,077 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 15,724 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 0.46% of Hercules Capital worth $15,446,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bessemer Group Inc. acquired a new position in Hercules Capital during the 1st quarter valued at about $38,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position 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 valued at $9,599,000 after buying an additional 56,932 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 2.0% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 32,832 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $631,000 after buying an additional 628 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Hercules Capital by 26.5% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 22,405 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $432,000 after buying an additional 4,688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Hercules Capital by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 325,912 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,548,000 after buying an additional 28,812 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.69% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Hercules Capital Stock Performance

Shares of HTGC stock remained flat at $19.13 during trading hours on Tuesday. 852,072 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 775,664. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.48 billion, a PE ratio of 12.67 and a beta of 0.95. The company's 50-day moving average price is $19.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.46. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.03. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 16.54% and a net margin of 51.46%.The business had revenue of $137.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $129.47 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.51 earnings per share. Hercules Capital's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

Hercules Capital Increases Dividend

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

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.