Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) Price Target Raised to $19.00

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC - Free Report) had its target price lifted by UBS Group from $18.50 to $19.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the financial services provider's stock.

HTGC has been the subject of several other reports. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Hercules Capital from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Hercules Capital from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Hercules Capital from $21.50 to $20.50 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hercules Capital presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $20.08.

Hercules Capital Price Performance

NYSE HTGC traded down $0.10 on Wednesday, hitting $19.33. 1,075,715 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,122,335. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $18.10 and a 200-day moving average of $18.90. The company has a current ratio of 2.38, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Hercules Capital has a 52 week low of $15.65 and a 52 week high of $22.04. The stock has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.53 and a beta of 0.93.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). Hercules Capital had a net margin of 45.23% and a return on equity of 16.84%. The firm had revenue of $102.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $125.43 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.50 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Hercules Capital will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th were paid 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 8.28%. Hercules Capital's dividend payout ratio is presently 120.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hercules Capital news, Director Nikos Theodosopoulos purchased 5,999 shares of Hercules Capital stock in a transaction dated 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 acquisition, the director owned 11,960 shares in the company, valued at $209,180.40. This trade represents a 100.64% increase in their position. The purchase 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 insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hercules Capital

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Hercules Capital during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Hercules Capital during the first quarter worth $30,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Hercules Capital during the second quarter worth $33,000. Estabrook Capital Management boosted its holdings in Hercules Capital by 239.0% during the fourth quarter. Estabrook Capital Management now owns 1,878 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 1,324 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Hercules Capital during the first quarter worth $38,000. 19.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.