Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) Price Target Increased to $22.50 by Analysts at Piper Sandler

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) had its price objective lifted by Piper Sandler from $22.00 to $22.50 in a report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on HTGC. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a market outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Hercules Capital has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $20.00.

Hercules Capital Price Performance

Shares of HTGC traded down $0.79 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $18.02. 2,496,330 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 949,705. The company has a market cap of $2.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.55 and a beta of 1.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $20.44 and its 200 day moving average is $19.08. Hercules Capital has a fifty-two week low of $15.02 and a fifty-two week high of $21.78. The company has a quick ratio of 2.47, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51. The company had revenue of $125.01 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $124.99 million. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 57.82% and a return on equity of 18.22%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Hercules Capital will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.65%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 13th. Hercules Capital’s payout ratio is presently 72.73%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert P. Badavas sold 13,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 4,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $83,367.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Robert P. Badavas sold 13,300 shares of Hercules Capital stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.69, for a total value of $261,877.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $83,367.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert P. Badavas sold 1,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.60, for a total value of $33,320.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $82,986.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hercules Capital

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of HTGC. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Hercules Capital by 1,567.0% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,345,736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $22,433,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265,008 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Hercules Capital by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,414,747 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,254,000 after acquiring an additional 381,318 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Hercules Capital during the 1st quarter valued at about $6,950,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Hercules Capital by 1,920.8% during the 1st quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 221,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,078,000 after purchasing an additional 210,112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TrueMark Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital in the second quarter worth approximately $3,015,000. 19.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hercules Capital Company Profile

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.