In the latest close session, Hercules Capital (HTGC) was down 1.87% at $18.40. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.01%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.51%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.28%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the specialty finance company had lost 3.2% lagged the Finance sector's gain of 1.42% and the S&P 500's gain of 4.83%.
The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Hercules Capital in its upcoming release. On that day, Hercules Capital is projected to report earnings of $0.48 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 5.88%. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $132.41 million, indicating a 5.72% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
Regarding the entire year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates forecast earnings of $1.92 per share and revenue of $518.05 million, indicating changes of -4% and +4.96%, respectively, compared to the previous year.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Hercules Capital. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. Hence, positive alterations in estimates signify analyst optimism regarding the business and profitability.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-term stock moves. To capitalize on this, we've crafted the Zacks Rank, a unique model that incorporates these estimate changes and offers a practical rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has remained steady. At present, Hercules Capital boasts a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
With respect to valuation, Hercules Capital is currently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 9.79. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 8.08, so one might conclude that Hercules Capital is trading at a premium comparatively.
The Financial - SBIC & Commercial Industry industry is part of the Finance sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 164, positioning it in the bottom 34% of all 250+ industries.
The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
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Hercules Capital, Inc. (HTGC): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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