Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) Price Target Cut to $15.00 by Analysts at UBS Group

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) had its price target dropped by equities researchers at UBS Group from $19.50 to $15.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. UBS Group’s price target suggests a potential upside of 6.80% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on HTGC. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Hercules Capital from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Capital One Financial set a $19.75 target price on Hercules Capital in a report on Monday, December 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Hercules Capital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered Hercules Capital from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $20.50 to $17.50 in a research report on Friday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.71.

Hercules Capital Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE:HTGC traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $14.05. The company had a trading volume of 3,006,227 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,796,641. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.48. Hercules Capital has a fifty-two week low of $13.77 and a fifty-two week high of $19.67. The firm has a market cap of $2.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.67 and a beta of 0.87. The business’s fifty day moving average is $16.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.89.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.48. The company had revenue of $133.25 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $141.57 million. Hercules Capital had a return on equity of 15.97% and a net margin of 63.80%.During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Hercules Capital will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Hercules Capital

In other news, Director Paramjeet K. Randhawa bought 3,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $14.78 per share, with a total value of $45,079.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 19,560 shares in the company, valued at $289,096.80. This represents a 18.47% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Seth H. Meyer acquired 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $14.33 per share, for a total transaction of $100,310.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 448,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,427,764.49. The trade was a 1.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 117,015 shares of company stock worth $1,749,620. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hercules Capital

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Hercules Capital during the third quarter valued at approximately $11,199,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 425.6% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 580,414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,610,000 after purchasing an additional 469,989 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 26.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,671,860 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,464,000 after purchasing an additional 353,092 shares in the last quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 1,335,787 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,140,000 after buying an additional 342,967 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HRT Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 100.9% in the second quarter. HRT Financial LP now owns 558,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,200,000 after buying an additional 280,198 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 19.69% of the company’s stock.

Hercules Capital Company Profile

Hercules Capital, Inc is a specialty finance company organized as a business development company (BDC) that provides tailored debt financing solutions to high‐growth companies. Through its external management structure, Hercules Capital extends senior secured loans, subordinated debt and growth capital designed to support research and development, expansion initiatives and working capital needs. The firm primarily partners with venture capital and private equity sponsors to finance innovative enterprises across various developmental stages.

The company’s investment portfolio is concentrated in technology, life sciences and sustainable and renewable technology sectors, reflecting its focus on industries with strong growth prospects and recurring capital requirements.