Analysts Set Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) Price Target at $18.21

Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $18.2083.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on HTGC shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $15.00 to $15.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Citizens Jmp reduced their target price on Hercules Capital from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings cut Hercules Capital from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Hercules Capital from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 13th.

Hercules Capital Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of Hercules Capital stock opened at $15.71 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $15.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.70. The company has a market cap of $2.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.88 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Hercules Capital has a 1 year low of $13.70 and a 1 year high of $19.67.

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

Hercules Capital Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Hercules Capital

In other news, Director Paramjeet K. Randhawa bought 3,050 shares of Hercules Capital stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $14.78 per share, with a total value of $45,079.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 19,560 shares in the company, valued at $289,096.80. This trade represents a 18.47% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas J. Fallon bought 20,000 shares of Hercules Capital stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $14.20 per share, with a total value of $284,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 150,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,135,239.80. This trade represents a 15.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders purchased 45,950 shares of company stock valued at $656,608 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HTGC. Quantum Portfolio Management LLC bought a new position in Hercules Capital in the first quarter worth $284,666,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 25.1% during the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 3,382,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,243,000 after acquiring an additional 678,783 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Hercules Capital during the third quarter valued at $11,199,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 425.6% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 580,414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,610,000 after acquiring an additional 469,989 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,671,860 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,464,000 after acquiring an additional 353,092 shares during the period. 19.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Hercules Capital

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.