Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) Price Target Raised to $24.00

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) had its target price lifted by JMP Securities from $22.00 to $24.00 in a research note published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. JMP Securities currently has a market outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on HTGC. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $18.50 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Hercules Capital from $21.50 to $20.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Hercules Capital from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.58.

Hercules Capital Price Performance

NYSE:HTGC opened at $19.52 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $18.52 and its 200 day moving average is $18.82. Hercules Capital has a 12 month low of $15.65 and a 12 month high of $22.04. The company has a market capitalization of $3.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $137.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $129.47 million. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 16.54% and a net margin of 51.46%. The company’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.51 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Hercules Capital will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be paid a $0.47 dividend. This is an increase from Hercules Capital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 12th. Hercules Capital’s payout ratio is currently 105.96%.

Institutional Trading of Hercules Capital

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Hercules Capital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Hercules Capital by 79.6% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,381 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 612 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Hercules Capital by 173.4% during the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 879 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Hercules Capital in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Hercules Capital in the first quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors own 19.69% 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.