Compass Point Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) Stock

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) had its target price lifted by analysts at Compass Point from $18.25 to $20.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Compass Point’s price objective suggests a potential downside of 7.80% from the stock’s previous close.

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

Hercules Capital Price Performance

Hercules Capital stock opened at $21.69 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a current ratio of 2.72. Hercules Capital has a one year low of $16.95 and a one year high of $22.04. The company has a market cap of $3.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.47 and a beta of 1.35. The business has a fifty day moving average of $20.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.64.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hercules Capital

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HTGC. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 33,289 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $669,000 after acquiring an additional 810 shares in the last quarter. PharVision Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hercules Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $203,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hercules Capital in the fourth quarter worth about $7,755,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in shares of Hercules Capital by 205.7% during 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 buying an additional 946,700 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its position in shares of Hercules Capital by 106.7% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 945,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,002,000 after purchasing an additional 488,172 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.69% of the company’s stock.

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.