Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) Given “Market Outperform” Rating at JMP Securities

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC)‘s stock had its “market outperform” rating reiterated by analysts at JMP Securities in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $22.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock. JMP Securities’ target price points to a potential upside of 3.12% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th.

Hercules Capital Trading Up 1.4 %

HTGC stock traded up $0.29 during trading on Friday, reaching $21.34. 779,354 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 863,571. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.47 billion, a PE ratio of 10.56 and a beta of 1.35. Hercules Capital has a 52-week low of $16.95 and a 52-week high of $21.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $20.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.62.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 65.07% and a return on equity of 17.88%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Hercules Capital will post 2.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of HTGC. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,438,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $69,078,000 after purchasing an additional 323,028 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its position in Hercules Capital by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,815,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,558,000 after buying an additional 77,869 shares during the period. Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its position in Hercules Capital by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 1,018,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,456,000 after buying an additional 62,610 shares during the last quarter. Melia Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Hercules Capital by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Melia Wealth LLC now owns 760,359 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,276,000 after buying an additional 16,786 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital during the 4th quarter worth about $14,871,000. Institutional investors own 19.69% of the company’s stock.

About Hercules Capital

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.