Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC Takes Position in Hercules Capital, Inc. $HTGC

Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 207,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,277,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its position in Hercules Capital by 25.1% in the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 3,382,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,243,000 after acquiring an additional 678,783 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in Hercules Capital by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,823,405 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,316,000 after purchasing an additional 29,292 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in Hercules Capital by 26.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,671,860 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,464,000 after purchasing an additional 353,092 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,382,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,004,000 after purchasing an additional 209,854 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 77.0% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,027,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,426,000 after purchasing an additional 446,860 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Hercules Capital Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE:HTGC opened at $17.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.53 and a beta of 0.79. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 52 week low of $13.70 and a 52 week high of $19.62. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $16.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.65.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.02. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 67.68% and a return on equity of 16.01%. The firm had revenue of $134.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $146.71 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.3%. This is an increase from Hercules Capital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 11th. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio is 79.60%.

Hercules Capital Profile

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.