JPMorgan Chase & Co. Lowers Stock Position in Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) by 27.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 292,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 111,073 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.18% of Hercules Capital worth $5,754,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of HTGC. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Hercules Capital by 59,650.0% in the third 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. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 45.6% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 1,279 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. lifted 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 acquiring an additional 3,580 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $114,000. 19.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hercules Capital Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HTGC opened at $20.63 on Friday. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $19.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.64. The stock has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of 10.21 and a beta of 1.35. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a one year low of $16.72 and a one year high of $21.78.

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

Hercules Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.31%. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.