Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) Short Interest Down 5.3% in December

Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,190,000 shares, a decrease of 5.3% from the December 15th total of 5,480,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,010,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.1 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HTGC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Hercules Capital from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $19.50 to $21.50 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Hercules Capital in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hercules Capital

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Hercules Capital by 177.2% during the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,802 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,152 shares in the last quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP grew its position in Hercules Capital by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 43,077 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $865,000 after buying an additional 2,850 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management increased its stake in Hercules Capital by 90.4% during the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 20,229 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $406,000 after buying an additional 9,604 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 164,903 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,313,000 after acquiring an additional 24,673 shares during the period. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 382,163 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,678,000 after acquiring an additional 1,711 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 19.69% of the company's stock.

Hercules Capital Stock Up 0.4 %

HTGC traded up $0.08 on Friday, reaching $20.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 931,423 shares, compared to its average volume of 854,137. 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 has a 1 year low of $16.72 and a 1 year high of $21.78. The business's 50 day moving average is $19.48 and its 200 day moving average is $19.64. The stock has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.27 and a beta of 1.35.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51. The business had revenue of $125.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $125.80 million. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 65.07% and a return on equity of 17.88%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Hercules Capital will post 2.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.26%. Hercules Capital's payout ratio is 79.21%.

Hercules Capital Company 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.