Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Sunday.

PSEC has been the topic of several other reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Prospect Capital from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Prospect Capital from $2.50 to $2.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Sell rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Sell” and a consensus target price of $2.00.

Prospect Capital Price Performance

PSEC opened at $2.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $1.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.97 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $2.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $2.61. Prospect Capital has a 1 year low of $2.11 and a 1 year high of $3.50.

Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $150.07 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 acquired 433,000 shares of Prospect Capital stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $2.32 per share, for a total transaction of $1,004,560.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 87,122,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,123,912.32. This represents a 0.50% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prospect Capital

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Prospect Capital by 356.3% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 6,231,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,138,000 after purchasing an additional 4,866,312 shares in the last quarter. Independent Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Prospect Capital during the 1st quarter worth about $8,644,000. Private Management Group Inc. bought a new position in Prospect Capital in the 4th quarter worth about $8,352,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Prospect Capital by 70.7% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 6,668,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,338,000 after purchasing an additional 2,761,351 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Prospect Capital by 73.9% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,661,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,002,000 after buying an additional 2,405,299 shares in the last quarter. 9.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Prospect Capital

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.