Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) Shares Gap Down - Here's What Happened

Shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC - Get Free Report) gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $21.05, but opened at $20.50. Hercules Capital shares last traded at $21.29, with a volume of 636,709 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on HTGC. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Hercules Capital in a research report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Hercules Capital from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $19.50 to $21.50 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th.

Hercules Capital Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 1.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.72 and a beta of 1.35. The business has a fifty day moving average of $20.32 and a 200-day moving average of $19.61.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49. The company had revenue of $121.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $124.09 million. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 17.88% and a net margin of 65.07%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 2.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be paid a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. Hercules Capital's dividend payout ratio is currently 79.21%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HTGC. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in Hercules Capital by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 138,364 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,780,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Hercules Capital by 1.7% during the third quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 34,900 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $685,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Hercules Capital by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 62,259 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,251,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC raised its position in Hercules Capital by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC now owns 27,417 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $551,000 after acquiring an additional 665 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Hercules Capital by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 27,319 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $540,000 after acquiring an additional 711 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.69% of the company's stock.

About Hercules Capital

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.