Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) Reaches New 1-Year High at $20.94

Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $20.94 and last traded at $20.94, with a volume of 2278 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $20.45.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HTGC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $21.00 to $21.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $19.50 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.56.

Hercules Capital Trading Up 2.4 %

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $19.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.32. The stock has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.30 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 2.47.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $121.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $121.86 million. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 69.98% and a return on equity of 18.35%. The business’s revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Hercules Capital, Inc. will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Hercules Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 14th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.17%. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.73%.

Insider Activity at Hercules Capital

In related news, Director Robert P. Badavas sold 13,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.69, for a total transaction of $261,877.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,234 shares in the company, valued at $83,367.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Hercules Capital news, Director Robert P. Badavas sold 13,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 4,234 shares in the company, valued at $83,367.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert P. Badavas sold 1,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.60, for a total transaction of $33,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,234 shares in the company, valued at $82,986.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 789 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 28.9% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 806 shares in the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 0.8% in the first quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 140,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,585,000 after purchasing an additional 1,107 shares in the last quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC grew its stake in Hercules Capital by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC now owns 25,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $421,000 after acquiring an additional 1,187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Hercules Capital by 3.3% during the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 38,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $701,000 after acquiring an additional 1,229 shares in the last quarter. 19.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.