Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) Receives $18.21 Consensus PT from Analysts

Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eight research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $18.2083.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Hercules Capital from $15.00 to $15.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Hercules Capital from $16.50 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hercules Capital in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Hercules Capital from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Citizens Jmp decreased their price target on Hercules Capital from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Hercules Capital by 18.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 39,643 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $586,000 after purchasing an additional 6,182 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in Hercules Capital by 1,336.3% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 16,259 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $240,000 after acquiring an additional 15,127 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Hercules Capital by 10.5% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 227,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,353,000 after acquiring an additional 21,590 shares during the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its position in Hercules Capital by 1.0% in the first quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 107,492 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,588,000 after acquiring an additional 1,098 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its position in Hercules Capital by 10.5% in the first quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 64,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $956,000 after acquiring an additional 6,144 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.69% of the company’s stock.

Hercules Capital Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Hercules Capital stock opened at $15.51 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.43. Hercules Capital has a 1 year low of $13.70 and a 1 year high of $19.67. The company has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.77 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.89.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.01. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 16.05% and a net margin of 59.85%.The business had revenue of $134.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $141.39 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Hercules Capital will post 1.93 EPS for the current year.

Hercules Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 14th were paid a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. Hercules Capital’s payout ratio is 90.40%.

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.