Legal & General Group Plc Invests $26.52 Million in Hercules Capital, Inc. $HTGC

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 1,681,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $26,523,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in Hercules Capital during the second quarter valued at $234,000. Burk Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Hercules Capital in the 2nd quarter worth about $3,277,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Hercules Capital in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,279,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP purchased a new position in Hercules Capital during the 2nd quarter valued at about $90,000. 19.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Hercules Capital Stock Performance

Shares of HTGC stock opened at $17.46 on Friday. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a one year low of $13.70 and a one year high of $19.62. The company’s 50-day moving average is $16.34 and its 200 day moving average is $15.66. The company has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.69 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $134.41 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $146.71 million. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 67.68% and a return on equity of 16.01%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.50 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.2%. This is an increase 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.