Zacks Research Has Pessimistic Outlook of HTGC Q4 Earnings

Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) – Investment analysts at Zacks Research reduced their Q4 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Hercules Capital in a report released on Wednesday, November 20th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the financial services provider will earn $0.50 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $0.51. The consensus estimate for Hercules Capital’s current full-year earnings is $2.02 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Hercules Capital’s Q1 2025 earnings at $0.49 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $0.49 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $0.50 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $1.98 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $0.50 EPS and Q2 2026 earnings at $0.50 EPS.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Hercules Capital from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price target on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.40.

Hercules Capital Stock Performance

Shares of HTGC opened at $18.77 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.29 and a beta of 1.39. Hercules Capital has a 12 month low of $15.14 and a 12 month high of $21.78. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $125.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $125.80 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hercules Capital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 1,861.8% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 407,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $79,960,000 after buying an additional 386,367 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Hercules Capital by 2,067.0% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 353,221 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 336,921 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 11.8% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,824,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,768,000 after acquiring an additional 298,992 shares during the period. TrueMark Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital during the 2nd quarter worth $3,015,000. Finally, Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Hercules Capital in the second quarter worth $2,005,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Hercules Capital

In related news, CEO Scott Bluestein sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.59, for a total value of $1,959,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,161,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,338,045.13. This represents a 4.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hercules Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.23%. Hercules Capital’s payout ratio is 79.21%.

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.