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

Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Prospect Capital from $2.50 to $2.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings raised Prospect Capital from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Sell rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Sell” and an average price target of $2.00.

Prospect Capital Stock Up 1.3%

Prospect Capital stock opened at $2.31 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.16 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.24 and a beta of 0.78. Prospect Capital has a 1-year low of $2.11 and a 1-year high of $3.50. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $2.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $150.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $163.23 million. Prospect Capital had a negative net margin of 10.42% and a positive return on equity of 12.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Prospect Capital news, CEO John F. Barry purchased 433,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $2.32 per share, with a total value of $1,004,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 87,122,376 shares in the company, valued at $202,123,912.32. The trade was a 0.50% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prospect Capital

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Concorde Asset Management LLC increased its position in Prospect Capital by 18.3% during the first quarter. Concorde Asset Management LLC now owns 359,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $956,000 after acquiring an additional 55,680 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in Prospect Capital by 42.6% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 81,016 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $212,000 after acquiring an additional 24,188 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in Prospect Capital by 23.9% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 316,704 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $827,000 after acquiring an additional 61,182 shares during the period. Spartan Wealth Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Prospect Capital in the 1st quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, Modera Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Prospect Capital in the 1st quarter valued at about $69,000. 9.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.