Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC – Get Rating) in a research report released on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on HTGC. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Hercules Capital from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, February 17th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Hercules Capital from $15.00 to $14.50 in a report on Friday, December 16th. JMP Securities restated a market outperform rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Hercules Capital in a research note on Monday, March 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered Hercules Capital from a market perform rating to an underperform rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $14.50 to $10.50 in a research note on Monday, March 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hercules Capital currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $14.93.

Hercules Capital Stock Performance

HTGC opened at $11.90 on Thursday. Hercules Capital has a 12-month low of $10.94 and a 12-month high of $19.09. The stock has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.66 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a 50 day moving average of $14.33 and a 200-day moving average of $13.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $100.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $91.34 million. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 13.87% and a net margin of 31.73%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Hercules Capital will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Hercules Capital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 2nd were paid a $0.39 dividend. This is a positive change from Hercules Capital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 1st. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.11%. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 205.27%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hercules Capital

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HTGC. Granite Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Hercules Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at $9,597,000. Conversant Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 262.5% in the 4th quarter. Conversant Capital LLC now owns 325,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,296,000 after purchasing an additional 525,000 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC grew its position in Hercules Capital by 576.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 329,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,814,000 after acquiring an additional 280,658 shares during the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in Hercules Capital during the 1st quarter worth $4,706,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in Hercules Capital by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,441,754 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,280,000 after acquiring an additional 235,707 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 23.77% of the company’s stock.

Hercules Capital Company Profile

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Hercules is the largest non-bank lender to venture capital-backed companies at all stages of development in a broadly diversified variety of technology, life sciences, and sustainable and renewable technology industries. With over a decade of experience in venture debt, Hercules is uniquely positioned to quickly create innovative financing solutions that perfectly fit within a company’s existing capital structure and map to its business objectives.