Hercules Capital, Inc. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.48 (NYSE:HTGC)

Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, July 30th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 13th will be paid a dividend of 0.48 per share by the financial services provider on Tuesday, August 20th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 13th.

Hercules Capital has increased its dividend by an average of 14.2% per year over the last three years. Hercules Capital has a payout ratio of 78.0% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings tumble. Research analysts expect Hercules Capital to earn $2.09 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 76.6%.

Hercules Capital Price Performance

NYSE HTGC traded up $0.03 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $21.70. 48,325 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 889,969. The company has a market capitalization of $3.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.88 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. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.01. Hercules Capital has a 12-month low of $15.02 and a 12-month high of $21.78.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Hercules Capital from $21.50 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Hercules Capital from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. JMP Securities upped their target price on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.13.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 stock was sold at an average price of $19.60, for a total transaction of $33,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $82,986.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Robert P. Badavas sold 1,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.60, for a total value of $33,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $82,986.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $83,367.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

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.