Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $19.92.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group dropped their price target on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Hercules Capital in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Hercules Capital from $21.50 to $20.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Hercules Capital from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Compass Point increased their price objective on Hercules Capital from $18.25 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th.

Insider Activity at Hercules Capital

In other Hercules Capital news, Director Nikos Theodosopoulos purchased 5,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $17.49 per share, with a total value of $104,922.51. Following the purchase, the director now owns 11,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $209,180.40. This represents a 100.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hercules Capital

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ares Management LLC boosted its stake in Hercules Capital by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Ares Management LLC now owns 226,606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,553,000 after buying an additional 28,300 shares during the last quarter. Left Brain Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Hercules Capital by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. Left Brain Wealth Management LLC now owns 275,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,542,000 after buying an additional 67,215 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Hercules Capital by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 387,225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,667,000 after buying an additional 84,780 shares during the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Hercules Capital by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 493,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,921,000 after buying an additional 60,776 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in Hercules Capital in the 4th quarter worth about $14,871,000. 19.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hercules Capital Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of HTGC stock opened at $17.50 on Monday. Hercules Capital has a fifty-two week low of $15.65 and a fifty-two week high of $22.04. The stock has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.87 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.33. The company has a quick ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.01). Hercules Capital had a net margin of 53.28% and a return on equity of 17.19%. The firm had revenue of $102.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $125.43 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.50 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Hercules Capital will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.14%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. Hercules Capital’s payout ratio is currently 120.30%.

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.