Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) Stock Bumped Up to “Hold” by Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) to a hold rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Prospect Capital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 22nd. Weiss Ratings cut Prospect Capital from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Sell” and an average price target of $2.00.

Prospect Capital Price Performance

NASDAQ PSEC opened at $1.83 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $976.89 million, a PE ratio of 36.60 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87. The business’s fifty day moving average is $2.20 and its 200 day moving average is $2.34. Prospect Capital has a fifty-two week low of $1.80 and a fifty-two week high of $3.12.

Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $155.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $149.80 million. Prospect Capital had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 12.15%. Sell-side analysts predict that Prospect Capital will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Prospect Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.0350 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 28th. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 23.0%. Prospect Capital’s payout ratio is 840.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Prospect Capital news, CEO John Barry. III acquired 1,217,105 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $2.24 per share, for a total transaction of $2,726,315.20. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 90,479,988 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $202,675,173.12. The trade was a 1.36% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 25.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Prospect Capital

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Independent Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Prospect Capital in the 1st quarter valued at about $8,644,000. Private Management Group Inc. raised its holdings in Prospect Capital by 51.7% in the 2nd quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 20,534,804 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,435,000 after purchasing an additional 6,999,513 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Prospect Capital during the second quarter worth approximately $9,336,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Prospect Capital by 32.7% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,685,724 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,374,000 after purchasing an additional 2,388,990 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concorde Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Prospect Capital in the second quarter valued at approximately $838,000. 9.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Prospect Capital

Prospect Capital Corporation is a business development company that provides financing to privately held, middle-market companies. The company primarily invests in first-lien and second-lien loans, subordinated debt, and other debt and equity securities. Its investments are designed to support acquisitions, recapitalizations, growth initiatives, refinancings, and other corporate purposes.

Through its investment platform, Prospect Capital also participates in specialized finance and structured investment activities, including investments in real estate-related assets and other operating businesses.