Q2 EPS Forecast for Hercules Capital Decreased by Analyst

Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC - Free Report) - Analysts at Zacks Research lowered their Q2 2027 EPS estimates for shares of Hercules Capital in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, June 30th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now forecasts that the financial services provider will post earnings of $0.53 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $0.54. The consensus estimate for Hercules Capital's current full-year earnings is $1.96 per share.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $21.50 to $20.50 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $19.92.

Hercules Capital Stock Performance

Shares of HTGC stock traded up $0.02 on Wednesday, hitting $18.61. 586,830 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,118,368. The firm's 50 day moving average is $17.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.95. Hercules Capital has a one year low of $15.65 and a one year high of $22.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a PE ratio of 13.99 and a beta of 0.93. 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 (NYSE:HTGC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.01). Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 16.84% and a net margin of 45.23%. 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 business earned $0.50 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.60%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. Hercules Capital's dividend payout ratio is presently 120.30%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Nikos Theodosopoulos acquired 5,999 shares of Hercules Capital stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $17.49 per share, with a total value of $104,922.51. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 11,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $209,180.40. The trade was a 100.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Hercules Capital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HTGC. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 205.7% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,406,900 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $28,265,000 after acquiring an additional 946,700 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Hercules Capital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $14,871,000. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its stake in Hercules Capital by 106.7% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 945,849 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $19,002,000 after purchasing an additional 488,172 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Hercules Capital by 1,834.7% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 429,125 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,621,000 after purchasing an additional 406,944 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Hercules Capital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,755,000. 19.69% of the stock is currently 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.