Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) Stock Has Average Price Target of $18.89

Shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $18.89.

Several brokerages have issued reports on HTGC. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Hercules Capital from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Hercules Capital from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $15.50 to $18.50 in a report on Tuesday, September 1st.

Institutional Trading of Hercules Capital

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Confluence Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 2.7% during the third quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 283,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,770,000 after purchasing an additional 7,577 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Hercules Capital by 15.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 12,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $195,000 after buying an additional 1,669 shares during the last quarter. Triad Investment Management increased its stake in Hercules Capital by 19.6% in the 2nd quarter. Triad Investment Management now owns 125,009 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,971,000 after buying an additional 20,446 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in Hercules Capital by 195.9% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 42,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $670,000 after buying an additional 28,121 shares during the period. Finally, Advisory Solutions Group LLC purchased a new position in Hercules Capital during the 2nd quarter worth $237,000. 19.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hercules Capital Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HTGC opened at $16.93 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Hercules Capital has a twelve month low of $13.70 and a twelve month high of $19.13. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $17.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $16.02. The stock has a market cap of $3.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.42 and a beta of 0.82.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $134.41 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $146.71 million. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 67.68% and a return on equity of 16.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Hercules Capital will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Hercules Capital Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th were given a $0.40 dividend. This is a boost from Hercules Capital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.5%. Hercules Capital’s payout ratio is presently 79.60%.

Hercules Capital Company Profile

Hercules Capital, Inc is a specialty finance company and business development company that provides financing to venture capital- and private equity-backed companies. Founded in 2003, the company was formerly known as Hercules Technology Growth Capital and focuses on supporting businesses in technology, life sciences, and other innovation-oriented industries.

Hercules Capital offers secured and unsecured venture debt, growth capital, equipment financing, working capital facilities, acquisition financing, and recapitalization solutions.