Royal Bank of Canada Has $15.45 Million Stock Position in 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 stake in shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC - Free Report) by 2.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 804,077 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 15,724 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.46% of Hercules Capital worth $15,446,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 205.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 946,700 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 106.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 488,172 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 1,834.7% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 429,125 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,621,000 after purchasing an additional 406,944 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital during the fourth quarter valued at about $7,755,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 126.2% during the first quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 369,368 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,096,000 after purchasing an additional 206,066 shares in the last quarter. 19.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on HTGC. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on 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 note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their price objective on Hercules Capital from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hercules Capital has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $20.58.

Hercules Capital Price Performance

Shares of HTGC opened at $19.34 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a PE ratio of 12.80 and a beta of 0.95. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 52-week low of $15.65 and a 52-week high of $22.04. The business's 50 day moving average price is $19.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 1.68.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC - Get Free Report) last released 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. The firm 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 in the previous year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

Hercules Capital Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. This is a positive change from Hercules Capital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 12th. Hercules Capital's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.

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