Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) Director Purchases $36,946.00 in Stock

Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) Director Nikos Theodosopoulos purchased 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $14.21 per share, for a total transaction of $36,946.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 21,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $305,841.83. This represents a 13.74% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Nikos Theodosopoulos also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, February 17th, Nikos Theodosopoulos bought 6,165 shares of Hercules Capital stock. The stock was bought at an average cost of $15.93 per share, with a total value of $98,208.45.

Hercules Capital Stock Performance

Shares of HTGC opened at $14.22 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.77 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.48. Hercules Capital, Inc. has a one year low of $14.10 and a one year high of $21.14. The business has a fifty day moving average of $17.64 and a 200 day moving average of $18.16.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.48. The business had revenue of $133.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $141.57 million. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 15.97% and a net margin of 63.80%.During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be issued a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 87.43%.

Hercules Capital News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Hercules Capital this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple insiders (CEO Scott Bluestein, CFO Seth Meyer and several directors) bought stock this week — collectively over ~46,000 shares — signaling management confidence at current levels. See the CEO’s SEC filing for details. CEO SEC Filing
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts have modestly lowered fair-value estimates and price targets (examples: consolidated fair value trimmed from ~$21.22 to ~$20.31; several firms trimmed targets and ratings), a recalibration rather than a wholesale downgrade of the thesis. Analyst Note
• Negative Sentiment: Unusual bearish options flow — investors bought ~28,062 put contracts (a >1,200% jump vs typical daily put volume) — a strong short-term bearish signal that can amplify downward pressure.
• Negative Sentiment: Hercules cut its quarterly dividend to $0.07 (annualized $0.28), reducing income appeal for yield?seeking investors and increasing concern about payout sustainability (payout ratio ~87%). See company data and dividend details. MarketBeat HTGC
• Negative Sentiment: Recent analyst downgrades and price?target cuts (Wells Fargo, Keefe Bruyette & Woods, Piper Sandler and others) have pressured sentiment and likely contributed to selling. Analyst Coverage

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Hercules Capital by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,647,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $68,969,000 after buying an additional 28,757 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,823,405 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,316,000 after acquiring an additional 29,292 shares during the period. UBS Group AG grew its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,671,860 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,464,000 after purchasing an additional 353,092 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,382,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,004,000 after purchasing an additional 209,854 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Muzinich & Co. Inc. raised its stake in Hercules Capital by 34.5% during the 4th quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 1,335,787 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,140,000 after purchasing an additional 342,967 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 19.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on HTGC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Hercules Capital from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 13th. Piper Sandler downgraded Hercules Capital from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $20.50 to $17.50 in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen cut Hercules Capital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 20th. Finally, Capital One Financial set a $19.75 price objective on Hercules Capital in a research report on Monday, December 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.29.

Hercules Capital Company Profile

Hercules Capital, Inc is a specialty finance company organized as a business development company (BDC) that provides tailored debt financing solutions to high?growth companies. Through its external management structure, Hercules Capital extends senior secured loans, subordinated debt and growth capital designed to support research and development, expansion initiatives and working capital needs. The firm primarily partners with venture capital and private equity sponsors to finance innovative enterprises across various developmental stages.

The company’s investment portfolio is concentrated in technology, life sciences and sustainable and renewable technology sectors, reflecting its focus on industries with strong growth prospects and recurring capital requirements.