Piper Sandler Increases Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) Price Target to $21.00

Key Points

• Piper Sandler has raised the price target for Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) from $20.00 to $21.00, suggesting a potential upside of 11.79%.
• Hercules Capital's recent quarterly earnings surpassed estimates, reporting $0.50 earnings per share, and generating revenues of $137.46 million.
• Insider trading activity includes a significant purchase by Director Nikos Theodosopoulos, who bought 5,999 shares at an average price of $17.49 per share.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC - Get Free Report) had its price target boosted by research analysts at Piper Sandler from $20.00 to $21.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Piper Sandler's price target would indicate a potential upside of 11.79% from the company's current price.

HTGC has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Hercules Capital from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Hercules Capital from $21.50 to $20.50 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Hercules Capital from $18.50 to $19.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Hercules Capital has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $20.25.

Hercules Capital Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of HTGC opened at $18.79 on Friday. Hercules Capital has a 52-week low of $15.65 and a 52-week high of $22.04. The company has a market capitalization of $3.30 billion, a PE ratio of 14.12 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.85. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $137.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $129.47 million. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 16.84% and a net margin of 45.23%. The company's revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Hercules Capital will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hercules Capital

In other Hercules Capital news, Director Nikos Theodosopoulos bought 5,999 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $17.49 per share, with a total value of $104,922.51. Following the transaction, the director owned 11,960 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $209,180.40. The trade was a 100.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hercules Capital

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. CWM LLC increased its position in Hercules Capital by 79.6% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,381 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 612 shares during the period. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Hercules Capital during the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in Hercules Capital during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, CNB Bank acquired a new position in Hercules Capital during the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.69% of the company's stock.

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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