Zacks Research Brokers Reduce Earnings Estimates for HTGC

Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC - Free Report) - Investment analysts at Zacks Research dropped their Q2 2025 earnings per share estimates for Hercules Capital in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, May 22nd. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the financial services provider will earn $0.47 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $0.48. The consensus estimate for Hercules Capital's current full-year earnings is $1.96 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Hercules Capital's Q3 2025 earnings at $0.48 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $0.49 EPS and Q1 2027 earnings at $0.51 EPS.

HTGC has been the subject of several other research reports. Compass Point boosted their price objective on Hercules Capital from $18.25 to $20.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Hercules Capital from $21.50 to $20.50 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Hercules Capital from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Hercules Capital from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $19.92.

Hercules Capital Trading Up 1.6%

HTGC stock traded up $0.27 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $17.67. The company had a trading volume of 1,314,398 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,091,888. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Hercules Capital has a 52 week low of $15.65 and a 52 week high of $22.04. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $17.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.17. The stock has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.98 and a beta of 0.97.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.01). Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 17.19% and a net margin of 53.28%. The firm had revenue of $102.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $125.43 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.05%. Hercules Capital's dividend payout ratio is presently 120.30%.

Insider Activity at Hercules Capital

In other news, Director Nikos Theodosopoulos acquired 5,999 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $17.49 per share, for a total transaction of $104,922.51. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 11,960 shares in the company, valued at $209,180.40. This trade represents a 100.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hercules Capital

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in Hercules Capital by 26.0% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 15,747 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 3,250 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 85.9% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 22,854 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $439,000 after acquiring an additional 10,559 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 5.9% in the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 17,241 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $331,000 after acquiring an additional 959 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 1.8% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 413,415 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,942,000 after acquiring an additional 7,224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FJ Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 70.7% in the first quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 93,829 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,802,000 after acquiring an additional 38,861 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.