Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $18.00.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on HTGC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Compass Point lowered Hercules Capital from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $17.00 to $17.50 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. JMP Securities boosted their target price on Hercules Capital from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th.

Hercules Capital Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HTGC opened at $18.96 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $18.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 2.75 and a quick ratio of 2.75. The company has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.21 and a beta of 1.34. Hercules Capital has a 1-year low of $12.40 and a 1-year high of $19.03.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.06. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 73.26% and a return on equity of 18.60%. The firm had revenue of $122.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.48 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Hercules Capital will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 28th were given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 27th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.13%. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.26%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Simplicity Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Hercules Capital in the 1st quarter valued at about $701,000. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hercules Capital in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $470,000. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 4.1% in the first quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 89,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,645,000 after purchasing an additional 3,543 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 23.4% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 87,646 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,617,000 after purchasing an additional 16,617 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Hercules Capital in the 1st quarter valued at $301,000. 19.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.