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

JMP Securities reissued their market outperform rating on shares of Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $22.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

HTGC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Hercules Capital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $19.50 to $21.50 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th.

Hercules Capital Trading Up 1.0 %

HTGC opened at $21.26 on Friday. Hercules Capital has a one year low of $16.95 and a one year high of $21.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.45 billion, a PE ratio of 10.53 and a beta of 1.35. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $20.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 1.61.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49. The company had revenue of $121.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $124.09 million. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 17.88% and a net margin of 65.07%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Hercules Capital will post 2.01 EPS for the current year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be given a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.84%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.21%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Hercules Capital by 177.2% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,152 shares during the last quarter. Estabrook Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 239.0% during the 4th quarter. Estabrook Capital Management now owns 1,878 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 1,324 shares during the last quarter. Archer Investment Corp lifted its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 345.4% during the 4th quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 2,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 1,803 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position 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 worth $47,000 after buying an additional 2,386 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.