Hercules Capital’s (HTGC) “Market Outperform” Rating Reaffirmed at JMP Securities

JMP Securities restated their market outperform rating on shares of Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) in a research note published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $22.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

HTGC has been the topic of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Hercules Capital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $19.50 to $21.50 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hercules Capital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.90.

Hercules Capital Price Performance

Hercules Capital stock opened at $20.17 on Monday. Hercules Capital has a 1 year low of $16.72 and a 1 year high of $21.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 1.61. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $19.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.65. The company has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.99 and a beta of 1.35.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 17.88% and a net margin of 65.07%. The business had revenue of $125.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $125.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Hercules Capital will post 2.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Hercules Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.52%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.21%.

Institutional Trading of Hercules Capital

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of HTGC. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hercules Capital in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Hercules Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 59,650.0% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 2,386 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 45.6% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 1,279 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 198.9% in the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 5,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $106,000 after buying an additional 3,580 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.