Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) Stock Crosses Above 200-Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)’s share price passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday. The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $16.21 and traded as high as $16.34. Hercules Capital shares last traded at $16.0760, with a volume of 1,528,471 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on HTGC shares. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group upgraded Hercules Capital from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $15.50 to $18.50 in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Hercules Capital from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Hercules Capital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.89.

Hercules Capital Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $3.05 billion, a PE ratio of 8.10 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a 50 day moving average of $17.07 and a 200 day moving average of $16.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. 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 net margin of 67.68% and a return on equity of 16.01%. The business had revenue of $134.41 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $146.71 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 1.95 EPS for the current year.

Hercules Capital Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is an increase from Hercules Capital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 11th. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.60%.

Institutional Trading of Hercules Capital

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital in the second quarter worth $26,523,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Hercules Capital during the second quarter valued at $14,573,000. Advisors Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Hercules Capital during the second quarter valued at $14,501,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 22.6% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,877,634 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,150,000 after purchasing an additional 713,653 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Hercules Capital by 25.1% in the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 3,382,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,243,000 after purchasing an additional 678,783 shares in the last quarter. 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 and specialty finance firm that provides debt financing to innovative, growth-oriented companies. The company focuses primarily on venture capital-backed businesses in the technology, life sciences, and sustainable and specialty technology sectors.

Hercules Capital offers secured loans and other forms of growth capital designed to support companies through various stages of development, including expansion, acquisitions, recapitalizations, and initial public offerings.