Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC Sells 14,262 Shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. $HTGC

Key Points

• Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC has reduced its stake in Hercules Capital, Inc. by 52.0% in the first quarter, holding 13,155 shares valued at $253,000.
• Hercules Capital reported $0.50 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, alongside a 10% revenue increase year-over-year.
• The company has raised its quarterly dividend from $0.40 to $0.47 per share, representing an annual yield of 9.8% despite a payout ratio of over 105%.

Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC decreased its position in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC - Free Report) by 52.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,155 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 14,262 shares during the quarter. Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC's holdings in Hercules Capital were worth $253,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Hercules Capital by 43.1% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 20,908 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $417,000 after acquiring an additional 6,295 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 93,680 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,882,000 after purchasing an additional 9,831 shares during the period. Barclays PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital during the fourth quarter worth $1,427,000. Guggenheim Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 30,131 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $605,000 after purchasing an additional 1,668 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Hercules Capital during the fourth quarter valued at $14,871,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on HTGC shares. JMP Securities lifted their price target on Hercules Capital from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Hercules Capital from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group upped their price target on Hercules Capital from $18.50 to $19.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Hercules Capital 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $20.58.

Hercules Capital Trading Up 0.4%

HTGC traded up $0.0750 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $19.2250. The stock had a trading volume of 975,552 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,199,305. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.73 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 1.68. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $18.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.66. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 52 week low of $15.65 and a 52 week high of $22.04.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $137.46 million for 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

Hercules Capital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 12th. This is a boost from Hercules Capital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Hercules Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.