Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Hercules Capital, Inc. has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from seven brokerages, with two analysts recommending a hold and five recommending a buy.
• Besides a recent earnings report that exceeded expectations, Hercules Capital raised its quarterly dividend from $0.40 to $0.47, reflecting a strong annualized yield of 9.8%.
• The company's stock has shown resilience, currently trading at $19.1450, with a 12-month range between $15.65 and $22.04.

Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seven research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $20.5833.

HTGC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JMP Securities raised 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. Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Hercules Capital in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $18.50 to $19.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hercules Capital

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CWM LLC lifted its position in Hercules Capital by 79.6% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,381 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Hercules Capital by 173.4% in the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,386 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 879 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Hercules Capital in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Hercules Capital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Hercules Capital in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 19.69% of the company's stock.

Hercules Capital Price Performance

Hercules Capital stock traded up $0.0750 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $19.2250. The company's stock had a trading volume of 975,552 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,199,305. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.73 and a beta of 0.94. Hercules Capital has a twelve month low of $15.65 and a twelve month high of $22.04. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $18.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.66.

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

Hercules Capital Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were given a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 12th. This is a positive change from Hercules Capital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Hercules Capital's payout ratio is currently 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.