Zacks Research Predicts Lower Earnings for Hercules Capital

Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HTGC) – Stock analysts at Zacks Research reduced their Q2 2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of Hercules Capital in a research note issued on Monday, December 30th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now forecasts that the financial services provider will post earnings of $0.48 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $0.49. The consensus estimate for Hercules Capital’s current full-year earnings is $2.01 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Hercules Capital’s FY2025 earnings at $1.95 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $1.98 EPS.

Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.51 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $125.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share.

HTGC has been the subject of a number of other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Hercules Capital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $19.50 to $21.50 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Hercules Capital from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Hercules Capital in a research note on Friday, December 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.90.

Hercules Capital Price Performance

NYSE HTGC opened at $20.38 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a PE ratio of 10.09 and a beta of 1.36. Hercules Capital has a 12-month low of $16.54 and a 12-month high of $21.78. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $19.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.64.

Hercules Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.42%. Hercules Capital’s payout ratio is 79.21%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hercules Capital

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tectonic Advisors LLC increased its position in Hercules Capital by 17.0% in the third quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 433,032 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,505,000 after purchasing an additional 62,826 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 77.0% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 31,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $647,000 after purchasing an additional 13,765 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Hercules Capital by 511.2% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 53,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,042,000 after buying an additional 44,386 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Hercules Capital by 9.3% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 406,985 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,993,000 after buying an additional 34,718 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Hercules Capital by 28.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 387,225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,667,000 after acquiring an additional 84,780 shares during the period. 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.