Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) Hits New 52-Week High at $20.94

Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $20.94 and last traded at $20.94, with a volume of 2278 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $20.45.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $21.00 to $21.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $19.50 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.56.

Hercules Capital Trading Up 2.4 %

The company’s fifty day moving average is $19.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.32. The stock has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.30 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 2.47, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $121.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $121.86 million. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 69.98% and a return on equity of 18.35%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 2.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 14th were issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.17%. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.73%.

Insider Activity at Hercules Capital

In other Hercules Capital news, Director Robert P. Badavas sold 1,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.60, for a total value of $33,320.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,234 shares in the company, valued at $82,986.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Hercules Capital news, Director Robert P. Badavas sold 13,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.69, for a total value of $261,877.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,234 shares in the company, valued at $83,367.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert P. Badavas sold 1,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.60, for a total transaction of $33,320.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,234 shares in the company, valued at $82,986.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hercules Capital

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HTGC. NBC Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 154.8% during the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,594 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hercules Capital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $53,000. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in Hercules Capital by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 789 shares during the last quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in Hercules Capital in the 4th quarter valued at $56,000. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Hercules Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at $66,000. 19.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hercules Capital Company Profile

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.