Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $20.00.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on HTGC shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Hercules Capital from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th.

Insider Activity at Hercules Capital

In other news, CEO Scott Bluestein sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.59, for a total value of $1,959,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,161,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,338,045.13. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Scott Bluestein sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.59, for a total transaction of $1,959,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,161,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,338,045.13. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Nikos Theodosopoulos acquired 1,608 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $18.03 per share, for a total transaction of $28,992.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,202.39. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Global Assets Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Hercules Capital by 1,920.8% during the first quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 221,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,078,000 after purchasing an additional 210,112 shares during the last quarter. Napa Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Hercules Capital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,465,000. Naviter Wealth LLC bought a new position in Hercules Capital during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,701,000. NBC Securities Inc. raised its stake 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 77.0% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 31,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $647,000 after acquiring an additional 13,765 shares during the last quarter. 19.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hercules Capital Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of HTGC stock opened at $19.77 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.99 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a 50 day moving average of $19.03 and a 200-day moving average of $19.46. Hercules Capital has a 12-month low of $15.02 and a 12-month high of $21.78.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 18.03% and a net margin of 57.82%. The business had revenue of $125.01 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $124.99 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Hercules Capital will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Hercules Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.71%. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.73%.

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.