Zacks Research Expects Lower Earnings for Hercules Capital

Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research dropped their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Hercules Capital in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, November 20th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now forecasts that the financial services provider will post earnings of $2.02 per share for the year, down from their previous forecast of $2.03. 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 Q3 2025 earnings at $0.49 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $0.50 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $2.01 EPS.

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

Hercules Capital Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HTGC opened at $18.76 on Monday. Hercules Capital has a 1 year low of $15.14 and a 1 year high of $21.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.29 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.68.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51. The business had revenue of $125.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $125.80 million. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 17.88% and a net margin of 65.07%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share.

Hercules Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.21%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Scott Bluestein sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.59, for a total transaction of $1,959,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,161,207 shares in the company, valued at $42,338,045.13. This represents a 4.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hercules Capital

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. CreativeOne Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Hercules Capital in the first quarter worth $257,000. SVB Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 74,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,368,000 after purchasing an additional 7,569 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 63,037 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,163,000 after buying an additional 3,768 shares during the period. Delphi Management Inc. MA increased its position in Hercules Capital by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Delphi Management Inc. MA now owns 97,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,798,000 after buying an additional 5,479 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BigSur Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Hercules Capital by 147.5% during the 1st quarter. BigSur Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $548,000 after buying an additional 17,700 shares during the period. 19.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.