Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Makes New $603,000 Investment in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

Key Points

• Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd has invested approximately $603,000 in Hercules Capital, acquiring 31,396 shares in the first quarter of the year.
• Hercules Capital recently faced a decline in quarterly earnings, reporting $0.45 EPS which was below analysts' expectations, alongside a decrease in revenue compared to the previous year.
• The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 8.23%, despite a payout ratio of 120.30%.

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 31,396 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $603,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Hercules Capital in the 1st quarter worth approximately $983,000. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its holdings in Hercules Capital by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 90,876 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,746,000 after purchasing an additional 7,940 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in Hercules Capital by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 140,565 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,700,000 after purchasing an additional 9,416 shares during the last quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in Hercules Capital by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 510,371 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $9,804,000 after purchasing an additional 60,375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Graypoint LLC lifted its holdings in Hercules Capital by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 165,597 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,181,000 after purchasing an additional 694 shares during the last quarter. 19.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Nikos Theodosopoulos purchased 5,999 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $17.49 per share, for a total transaction of $104,922.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 11,960 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $209,180.40. The trade was a 100.64% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HTGC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Hercules Capital from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group upped their price target on Hercules Capital from $18.50 to $19.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Hercules Capital from $21.50 to $20.50 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Hercules Capital from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $20.08.

Hercules Capital Stock Performance

Shares of HTGC traded down $0.28 on Wednesday, reaching $18.92. 1,187,371 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 916,131. The firm has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.23 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 2.38 and a quick ratio of 2.38. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.65 and a 12 month high of $22.04. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $18.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.86.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $102.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $125.43 million. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 45.23% and a return on equity of 16.84%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be given a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 12th. This is a boost from Hercules Capital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.94%. Hercules Capital's payout ratio is currently 120.30%.

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.