Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Hold”

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Friday morning.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on HTGC. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Hercules Capital in a report on Friday, October 31st. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Hercules Capital in a report on Monday, August 4th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Hercules Capital from $21.00 to $20.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. UBS Group decreased their target price on 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, JMP Securities lifted their price target on Hercules Capital from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Hercules Capital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.42.

Hercules Capital Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HTGC opened at $18.10 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 1.68. Hercules Capital has a 52 week low of $15.65 and a 52 week high of $22.04. The firm has a market cap of $3.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.98 and a beta of 0.95.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates 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 company earned $0.51 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Hercules Capital will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hercules Capital Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.8%. Hercules Capital’s dividend payout ratio is 93.02%.

Insider Activity at Hercules Capital

In other news, Director Gayle A. Crowell acquired 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $17.77 per share, with a total value of $106,620.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 78,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,398,978.79. This trade represents a 8.25% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HTGC. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 804,077 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,446,000 after acquiring an additional 15,724 shares in the last quarter. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd lifted its stake in Hercules Capital by 7.1% during the second quarter. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd now owns 375,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,855,000 after purchasing an additional 25,000 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP boosted its holdings in Hercules Capital by 15.3% during the first quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 123,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,376,000 after purchasing an additional 16,374 shares in the last quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC acquired a new stake in Hercules Capital during the first quarter valued at approximately $279,000. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 170.3% in the 1st quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 336,988 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,474,000 after purchasing an additional 212,325 shares during the period. 19.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.