Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $20.00.

HTGC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd.

Hercules Capital Trading Up 0.4 %

HTGC opened at $19.88 on Friday. Hercules Capital has a 1-year low of $15.02 and a 1-year high of $21.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The company has a market cap of $3.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.04 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $19.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.51.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.51. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 57.82% and a return on equity of 18.03%. The firm had revenue of $125.01 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $124.99 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Hercules Capital will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 13th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTGC. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,594 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. boosted its position in Hercules Capital by 54.6% during the 4th quarter. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. now owns 4,220 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 1,490 shares during the period. 19.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.