Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) Rating Lowered to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Friday.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on HTGC. JMP Securities raised their target price on Hercules Capital from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Hercules Capital in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Hercules Capital in a report on Monday, August 4th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $19.00 to $18.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $21.00 to $20.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.42.

Hercules Capital Stock Performance

NYSE HTGC opened at $18.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.68. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.41. The company has a market cap of $3.29 billion, a PE ratio of 11.98 and a beta of 0.95. Hercules Capital has a 1-year low of $15.65 and a 1-year high of $22.04.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $138.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $136.95 million. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 16.54% and a net margin of 51.46%.During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Hercules Capital will post 1.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Hercules Capital news, Director Gayle A. Crowell purchased 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $17.77 per share, with a total value of $106,620.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 78,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,398,978.79. This represents a 8.25% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HTGC. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in Hercules Capital by 7.7% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 13,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 935 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 25.2% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 191,097 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,671,000 after purchasing an additional 38,524 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Hercules Capital by 13.2% during the 1st quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,089 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $232,000 after buying an additional 1,413 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC increased its position in Hercules Capital by 14.5% during the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,130,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,714,000 after buying an additional 143,042 shares during the period. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Hercules Capital by 185.4% in the first quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 35,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $686,000 after buying an additional 23,202 shares during the last quarter. 19.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hercules Capital Company Profile

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.