Hercules Capital, Inc. $HTGC Holdings Boosted by Trexquant Investment LP

Key Points

• Trexquant Investment LP increased its stake in Hercules Capital, Inc. by 15.3%, acquiring an additional 16,374 shares, bringing its total holdings to 123,706 shares valued at approximately $2.37 million.
• Hercules Capital reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.50, exceeding analysts' estimates and posting a revenue increase of 10% compared to the same quarter last year.
• The company recently raised its quarterly dividend from $0.40 to $0.47 per share, resulting in a 9.8% yield, though its dividend payout ratio now stands at 105.96%.

Trexquant Investment LP boosted its position in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC - Free Report) by 15.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 123,706 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 16,374 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP owned about 0.07% of Hercules Capital worth $2,376,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 2.0% during the 1st 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 period. Graypoint LLC grew its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 165,597 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,181,000 after buying an additional 694 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 10,826 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $217,000 after buying an additional 802 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 33,289 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $669,000 after buying an additional 810 shares during the period. Finally, Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC now owns 114,664 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,203,000 after buying an additional 823 shares during the period. 19.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hercules Capital Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of Hercules Capital stock traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $19.32. 185,032 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,174,049. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a twelve month low of $15.65 and a twelve month high of $22.04. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.51. The company has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a PE ratio of 12.79 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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.03. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 51.46% and a return on equity of 16.54%. The business had revenue of $137.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $129.47 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 declared 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 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%. Hercules Capital's dividend payout ratio is 105.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on HTGC shares. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Hercules Capital in a research note on Monday, August 4th. JMP Securities increased 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 raised 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. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Hercules Capital from $18.50 to $19.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $20.58.

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.