BNP Paribas Financial Markets Increases Stock Position in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) by 511.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 44,386 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Hercules Capital were worth $1,042,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of HTGC. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Hercules Capital in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 59,650.0% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 2,386 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 2,067.0% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 353,221 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 336,921 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 198.9% during the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 5,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $106,000 after buying an additional 3,580 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 19.69% of the company’s stock.

Hercules Capital Stock Performance

Hercules Capital stock opened at $19.65 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.61. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a 1-year low of $15.32 and a 1-year high of $21.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.73 and a beta of 1.36. The company’s 50-day moving average is $19.51 and its 200 day moving average is $19.65.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 65.07% and a return on equity of 17.88%. The company had revenue of $125.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $125.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 2.01 EPS for the current year.

Hercules Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th were given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on HTGC shares. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Hercules Capital in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hercules Capital presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hercules Capital news, CEO Scott Bluestein sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.59, for a total value of $1,959,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,161,207 shares in the company, valued at $42,338,045.13. This represents a 4.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hercules Capital 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.