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Hercules Capital (HTGC) Ascends While Market Falls: Some Facts to Note

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Hercules Capital (HTGC - Free Report) closed at $21.11 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.24% move from the prior day. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.88%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.08%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.95%.

Shares of the specialty finance company have appreciated by 6.04% over the course of the past month, outperforming the Finance sector's loss of 4.28% and the S&P 500's gain of 5.11%.

Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of Hercules Capital in its upcoming earnings disclosure. In that report, analysts expect Hercules Capital to post earnings of $0.51 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 3.77%. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $124.99 million, indicating a 7.53% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $2.06 per share and a revenue of $503.7 million, representing changes of -0.96% and +9.34%, respectively, from the prior year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Hercules Capital. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, running from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), holds an admirable track record of superior performance, independently audited, with #1 stocks contributing an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has remained unchanged. Hercules Capital presently features a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

In terms of valuation, Hercules Capital is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 10.22. This denotes a premium relative to the industry's average Forward P/E of 8.34.

The Financial - SBIC & Commercial Industry industry is part of the Finance sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 74, positioning it in the top 30% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Remember to apply Zacks.com to follow these and more stock-moving metrics during the upcoming trading sessions.


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