Palogic Value Management L.P. Invests $679,000 in Hercules Capital, Inc. $HTGC

Palogic Value Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 43,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $679,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fox Run Management L.L.C. boosted its holdings in Hercules Capital by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 24,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $458,000 after purchasing an additional 657 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 1.8% in the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 37,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $715,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares during the period. Mariner LLC raised its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 56,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,062,000 after buying an additional 764 shares in the last quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP raised its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 11,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Hercules Capital by 5.9% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 17,241 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $331,000 after buying an additional 959 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 19.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hercules Capital in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Hercules Capital from $16.50 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH decreased their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Hercules Capital from $15.00 to $15.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hercules Capital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.46.

Hercules Capital Stock Up 0.2%

HTGC opened at $17.63 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.64. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 52 week low of $13.70 and a 52 week high of $19.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a PE ratio of 8.77 and a beta of 0.79.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $134.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $146.71 million. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 16.01% and a net margin of 67.68%.The company’s revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.1%. This is a boost from Hercules Capital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 11th. Hercules Capital’s payout ratio is 79.60%.

About Hercules Capital

Hercules Capital, Inc is a specialty finance company organized as a business development company (BDC) that provides tailored debt financing solutions to high‐growth companies. Through its external management structure, Hercules Capital extends senior secured loans, subordinated debt and growth capital designed to support research and development, expansion initiatives and working capital needs. The firm primarily partners with venture capital and private equity sponsors to finance innovative enterprises across various developmental stages.

The company’s investment portfolio is concentrated in technology, life sciences and sustainable and renewable technology sectors, reflecting its focus on industries with strong growth prospects and recurring capital requirements.