Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) Receives $19.92 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

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

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Piper Sandler reduced 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. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Hercules Capital from $21.50 to $20.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Hercules Capital from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th.

Hercules Capital Stock Up 0.1%

HTGC opened at $18.61 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 2.38 and a quick ratio of 2.38. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $17.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.95. The company has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.99 and a beta of 0.93. Hercules Capital has a fifty-two week low of $15.65 and a fifty-two week high of $22.04.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $102.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $125.43 million. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 45.23% and a return on equity of 16.84%. Hercules Capital’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Hercules Capital will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.60%. Hercules Capital’s payout ratio is currently 120.30%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Nikos Theodosopoulos bought 5,999 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $17.49 per share, with a total value of $104,922.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 11,960 shares in the company, valued at $209,180.40. The trade was a 100.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hercules Capital

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 205.7% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,406,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,265,000 after purchasing an additional 946,700 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in Hercules Capital in the 4th quarter valued at about $14,871,000. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its holdings in Hercules Capital by 106.7% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 945,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,002,000 after acquiring an additional 488,172 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Hercules Capital by 1,834.7% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 429,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,621,000 after acquiring an additional 406,944 shares during the period. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Hercules Capital in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,755,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.