Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Hercules Capital, Inc. has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from seven research firms, with two analysts recommending hold and five suggesting buy.
• The company has increased its quarterly dividend to $0.47, reflecting a positive change from the previous $0.40, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 9.7%.
• Hercules Capital's stock recently opened at $19.44, with an average 12-month price target among brokerages at $20.58.

Shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the seven research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $20.5833.

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Hercules Capital in a research report on Monday, August 4th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Hercules Capital from $18.50 to $19.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hercules Capital

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Hercules Capital by 79.6% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,381 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 173.4% in the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,386 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 879 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Hercules Capital in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital during the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors own 19.69% of the company's stock.

Hercules Capital Stock Down 0.5%

Hercules Capital stock opened at $19.44 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Hercules Capital has a 1-year low of $15.65 and a 1-year high of $22.04. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.48. The company has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.87 and a beta of 0.95.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.03. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 51.46% and a return on equity of 16.54%. The company had revenue of $137.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $129.47 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Hercules Capital will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were given a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 12th. This is a positive change from Hercules Capital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.7%. Hercules Capital's payout ratio is 105.96%.

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.

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