Hercules Capital down after $250 mln convertible offering priced

Shares of Hercules Capital HTGC.N down 1% to $18.90 in light premarket trading after co secures capital raise

San Mateo, California-based specialty finance firm late Weds announced pricing $250 mln 4.75% 3.5-year convertible bonds

Initial conversion price of $21.48 represents 12.5% premium to stock's last close

HTGC shares on Weds fell for third straight session, ending down 4.4% at lowest since Dec 20, giving co ~$3.3 bln market cap, per LSEG

The business development co (BDC) plans to use net offering proceeds to continue to provide loans to venture capital-backed firms in technology and life sciences industries

Last month, it reported 2024 net investment income of $326 mln, up 7% y/y, while gross fundings grew 13% to $1.81 bln

In 2024, stock gained 20.5%

Of 9 analysts covering HTGC, recommendation breakdown is 6 "strong buy" or "buy", rest "hold"; median PT is $21.75