Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) Sets New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) shares reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday after JMP Securities raised their price target on the stock from $20.00 to $22.00. JMP Securities currently has a market outperform rating on the stock. Hercules Capital traded as high as $21.69 and last traded at $21.67, with a volume of 1104888 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.31.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Hercules Capital from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Hercules Capital from $21.50 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. 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 data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.13.

Insider Activity

In other Hercules Capital news, Director Robert P. Badavas sold 13,300 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 4,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,367.46. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Robert P. Badavas sold 13,300 shares of the business’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 4,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,367.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert P. Badavas sold 1,700 shares of Hercules Capital 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $82,986.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hercules Capital

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HTGC. RMR Wealth Builders grew its position in Hercules Capital by 3.5% in the second quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 16,997 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $348,000 after acquiring an additional 571 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Hercules Capital by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 789 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Hercules Capital by 28.9% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 806 shares in the last quarter. Accel Wealth Management raised its stake in Hercules Capital by 7.3% in the second quarter. Accel Wealth Management now owns 15,578 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $319,000 after buying an additional 1,066 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 0.8% during the first quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 140,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,585,000 after purchasing an additional 1,107 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.69% of the company’s stock.

Hercules Capital Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $20.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.98. 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 $3.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.79 and a beta of 1.39.

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

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.