JMP Securities Reaffirms "Market Outperform" Rating for Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC)

JMP Securities restated their market outperform rating on shares of Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC - Free Report) in a report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $22.00 price target on the financial services provider's stock.

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Hercules Capital currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $20.40.

Hercules Capital Trading Up 3.2 %

HTGC stock traded up $0.60 on Friday, hitting $19.51. 1,172,824 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,108,622. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.66 and a beta of 1.36. The business's fifty day moving average is $19.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.64. Hercules Capital has a twelve month low of $15.18 and a twelve month high of $21.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.61.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51. Hercules Capital had a net margin of 65.07% and a return on equity of 17.88%. The firm had revenue of $125.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $125.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Hercules Capital will post 2.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Hercules Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.84%. Hercules Capital's dividend payout ratio is presently 79.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Scott Bluestein sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.59, for a total value of $1,959,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,161,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,338,045.13. This represents a 4.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Hercules Capital

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 336,921 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 11.8% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,824,840 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $57,768,000 after purchasing an additional 298,992 shares during the period. TrueMark Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Hercules Capital in the 2nd quarter worth about $3,015,000. Finally, Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hercules Capital in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,005,000. 19.69% of the stock is owned by 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.