Compass Point Increases Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) Price Target to $20.00

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) had its price target raised by Compass Point from $18.25 to $20.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on HTGC. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Hercules Capital in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Hercules Capital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $19.50 to $21.50 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.40.

Hercules Capital Stock Performance

Shares of Hercules Capital stock opened at $22.01 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $20.37 and a 200-day moving average of $19.63. Hercules Capital has a 1-year low of $16.95 and a 1-year high of $22.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $3.81 billion, a PE ratio of 13.67 and a beta of 1.35.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 53.28% and a return on equity of 17.19%. The company had revenue of $121.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $124.09 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Hercules Capital will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be given a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.54%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 99.38%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hercules Capital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTGC. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in Hercules Capital by 205.7% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,406,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,265,000 after acquiring an additional 946,700 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Hercules Capital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $14,871,000. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its position in Hercules Capital by 106.7% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 945,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,002,000 after acquiring an additional 488,172 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Hercules Capital by 1,834.7% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 429,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,621,000 after acquiring an additional 406,944 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Hercules Capital by 1,861.8% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 407,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $79,960,000 after acquiring an additional 386,367 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.