Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) Price Target Increased to $21.50 by Analysts at Piper Sandler

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) had its price objective raised by Piper Sandler from $21.00 to $21.50 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Friday. Compass Point lowered shares of Hercules Capital from a buy rating to a neutral rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $17.00 to $17.50 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, JMP Securities upped their target price on shares of Hercules Capital from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a market outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $18.56.

Hercules Capital Stock Up 0.7 %

HTGC stock traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $19.43. 1,369,561 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 744,423. The company has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.83 and a beta of 1.32. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $18.41 and its 200-day moving average is $17.16. Hercules Capital has a 12 month low of $12.40 and a 12 month high of $19.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 2.75 and a quick ratio of 2.75.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 18.91% and a net margin of 69.98%. The business had revenue of $121.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $121.86 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. Hercules Capital’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Hercules Capital will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Hercules Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.88%. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.73%.

Institutional Trading of Hercules Capital

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTGC. NBC Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Hercules Capital by 154.8% in the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 1,594 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Hercules Capital in the fourth quarter valued at about $53,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in Hercules Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $56,000. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Hercules Capital by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 789 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Hercules Capital by 28.9% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 806 shares during the period. 19.69% of the stock is 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.