Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Saturday.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Prospect Capital in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Sell rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Sell” and an average price target of $2.50.

Prospect Capital Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PSEC opened at $3.05 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.77 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $2.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74. Prospect Capital has a 1 year low of $2.45 and a 1 year high of $4.47.

Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The financial services provider reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.09. Prospect Capital had a positive return on equity of 11.91% and a negative net margin of 39.56%.The company had revenue of $176.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.34 million.

Prospect Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 28th will be paid a $0.045 dividend. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 17.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 28th. Prospect Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -66.67%.

Insider Transactions at Prospect Capital

In related news, COO M Grier Eliasek purchased 942,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $2.92 per share, with a total value of $2,752,976.00. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer directly owned 3,443,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,056,275.60. This represents a 37.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 27.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Prospect Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Bfsg LLC bought a new stake in Prospect Capital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Navalign LLC purchased a new stake in Prospect Capital in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Ground Swell Capital LLC bought a new position in Prospect Capital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Prospect Capital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 9.06% of the company’s stock.

Prospect Capital Company Profile

Prospect Capital Corporation is a publicly traded business development company listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange that specializes in providing private debt and equity financing solutions to middle-market companies across the United States. Structured as a closed-end, non-diversified management investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, Prospect Capital offers investors access to a diversified portfolio of senior secured loans, subordinated debt and selective equity interests in privately held businesses.

Since its founding in 2004, Prospect Capital has focused on tailoring financing structures to meet the growth, acquisition and recapitalization needs of its portfolio companies.