Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) Price Target Raised to $22.00

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) had its price target increased by Piper Sandler from $21.50 to $22.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on HTGC. JMP Securities upped their target price on shares of Hercules Capital from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a market outperform rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Hercules Capital from $19.50 to $20.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Hercules Capital from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hercules Capital has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $18.63.

Hercules Capital Stock Performance

Shares of Hercules Capital stock opened at $21.22 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.64. Hercules Capital has a fifty-two week low of $15.02 and a fifty-two week high of $21.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 2.47. The firm has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.65 and a beta of 1.39.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $121.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $121.86 million. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 18.35% and a net margin of 69.98%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.47 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Hercules Capital will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 14th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.05%. Hercules Capital’s payout ratio is 72.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert P. Badavas sold 1,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.60, for a total value of $33,320.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,234 shares in the company, valued at $82,986.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Robert P. Badavas sold 1,700 shares of the company’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 sale, the director now owns 4,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $82,986.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert P. Badavas sold 13,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.69, for a total transaction of $261,877.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,234 shares in the company, valued at $83,367.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hercules Capital

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of HTGC. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in Hercules Capital by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,689,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,004,000 after buying an additional 35,554 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 4.6% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,525,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,602,000 after acquiring an additional 111,101 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 1,567.0% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,345,736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $22,433,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265,008 shares during the last quarter. Melia Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 5.5% during the first quarter. Melia Wealth LLC now owns 691,540 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,759,000 after purchasing an additional 36,325 shares during the period. Finally, Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Hercules Capital by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 607,669 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,427,000 after purchasing an additional 7,485 shares during the last quarter. 19.69% of the stock is owned by 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.