Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,480,000 shares, a growth of 10.7% from the November 30th total of 4,950,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 923,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.9 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HTGC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Hercules Capital in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Hercules Capital from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $19.50 to $21.50 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hercules Capital currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $20.90.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tectonic Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 433,032 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,505,000 after buying an additional 62,826 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 77.0% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 31,632 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $647,000 after purchasing an additional 13,765 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 511.2% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 53,068 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,042,000 after purchasing an additional 44,386 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 9.3% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 406,985 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,993,000 after purchasing an additional 34,718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 28.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 387,225 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,667,000 after purchasing an additional 84,780 shares during the period. 19.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hercules Capital Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:HTGC traded up $0.07 on Wednesday, hitting $20.09. 960,354 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 946,375. The stock has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a PE ratio of 9.95 and a beta of 1.36. Hercules Capital has a fifty-two week low of $16.51 and a fifty-two week high of $21.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $19.37 and a 200-day moving average of $19.63.

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

Hercules Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.56%. Hercules Capital's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.