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

Shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $19.92.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on HTGC shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Hercules Capital from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Hercules Capital from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $21.50 to $20.50 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Nikos Theodosopoulos bought 5,999 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $17.49 per share, for a total transaction of $104,922.51. Following the transaction, the director owned 11,960 shares of the company's stock, valued at $209,180.40. This represents a 100.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hercules Capital

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in Hercules Capital in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Hercules Capital in the first quarter worth $30,000. Estabrook Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 239.0% in the 4th quarter. Estabrook Capital Management now owns 1,878 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 1,324 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital during the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in Hercules Capital during the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. Institutional investors own 19.69% of the company's stock.

Hercules Capital Price Performance

Hercules Capital stock opened at $18.28 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.74 and a beta of 0.94. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $17.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.96. Hercules Capital has a 12-month low of $15.65 and a 12-month high of $22.04.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $102.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $125.43 million. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 45.23% and a return on equity of 16.84%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Hercules Capital will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.75%. Hercules Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 120.30%.

Hercules Capital Company Profile

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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