In the latest trading session, Hercules Capital (HTGC) closed at $20.24, marking a +0.45% move from the previous day. The stock trailed the S&P 500, which registered a daily gain of 1.83%. On the other hand, the Dow registered a gain of 1.65%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq increased by 2.45%.

Shares of the specialty finance company have appreciated by 5.06% over the course of the past month, outperforming the Finance sector's loss of 3.1% and the S&P 500's loss of 3.31%.

Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Hercules Capital in its upcoming earnings disclosure. In that report, analysts expect Hercules Capital to post earnings of $0.49 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 12.5%. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $124.09 million, showing a 1.21% escalation compared to the year-ago quarter.

Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for Hercules Capital. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. Therefore, positive revisions in estimates convey analysts' confidence in the company's business performance and profit potential.

Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. 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 moved 0.1% lower. Hercules Capital is holding a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell) right now.

With respect to valuation, Hercules Capital is currently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 10.1. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 9.04, which means Hercules Capital is trading at a premium to the group.

The Financial - SBIC & Commercial Industry industry is part of the Finance sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 86, putting it in the top 35% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Don't forget to use Zacks.com to keep track of all these stock-moving metrics, and others, in the upcoming trading sessions.

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Hercules Capital, Inc. (HTGC) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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