Zacks Research Analysts Increase Earnings Estimates for Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC)

Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) – Investment analysts at Zacks Research upped their Q2 2024 earnings per share estimates for Hercules Capital in a research report issued on Thursday, May 23rd. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now expects that the financial services provider will post earnings of $0.51 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $0.50. The consensus estimate for Hercules Capital’s current full-year earnings is $2.06 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Hercules Capital’s Q3 2024 earnings at $0.51 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.52 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $0.53 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $2.07 EPS and Q1 2026 earnings at $0.53 EPS.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. 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 note on Friday, May 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Hercules Capital from $21.00 to $21.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their target price on Hercules Capital from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Hercules Capital presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.56.

Hercules Capital Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of HTGC stock opened at $19.41 on Friday. Hercules Capital has a fifty-two week low of $13.84 and a fifty-two week high of $20.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 2.47 and a current ratio of 2.47. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.56. The company has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.82 and a beta of 1.32.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 18.35% and a net margin of 69.98%. The company had revenue of $121.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $121.86 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. NBC Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 154.8% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,594 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hercules Capital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 789 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 806 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 19.69% of the company’s stock.

Hercules Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.89%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 13th. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.73%.

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.