Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in 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 lessened its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC - Free Report) by 52.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm 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 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTGC. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in Hercules Capital during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Hercules Capital during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Bessemer Group Inc. bought a new stake in Hercules Capital during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Hercules Capital during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Hercules Capital during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Institutional investors own 19.69% of the company's stock.

Hercules Capital Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE HTGC traded up $0.0750 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $19.2250. 975,552 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,180,776. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.73 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The company's 50 day moving average price is $18.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.69. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.03. The firm 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.51 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 19th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.8%. This is an increase from Hercules Capital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Hercules Capital's dividend payout ratio is presently 105.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on HTGC shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Hercules Capital from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Hercules Capital in a research note on Monday, August 4th. 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. Finally, 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Hercules Capital presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.