Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) Price Target Raised to $21.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) had its target price hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in 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 upped their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hercules Capital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.83.

Hercules Capital Price Performance

HTGC stock opened at $20.00 on Tuesday. Hercules Capital has a 1 year low of $15.11 and a 1 year high of $21.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The stock has a market cap of $3.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.09 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.63.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51. The company had revenue of $125.01 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $124.99 million. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 18.03% and a net margin of 57.82%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Hercules Capital will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.60%. Hercules Capital’s payout ratio is 72.73%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Scott Bluestein sold 100,000 shares of Hercules Capital 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,161,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,338,045.13. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Nikos Theodosopoulos purchased 1,608 shares of Hercules Capital stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $18.03 per share, for a total transaction of $28,992.24. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 5,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,202.39. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Scott Bluestein sold 100,000 shares of Hercules Capital 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,338,045.13. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hercules Capital

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Hercules Capital in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Hercules Capital in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Hercules Capital by 59,650.0% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 2,386 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Hercules Capital by 28.9% during the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 806 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Hercules Capital by 2,067.0% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 353,221 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 336,921 shares during the last quarter. 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.