Wall Street Zen Downgrades Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) to Hold

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

Separately, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Prospect Capital in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Sell rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Sell” and a consensus price target of $2.50.

Prospect Capital Trading Up 5.5%

Shares of PSEC stock opened at $3.05 on Friday. Prospect Capital has a fifty-two week low of $2.45 and a fifty-two week high of $4.47. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $2.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $2.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.77 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74.

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

Insider Activity at Prospect Capital

In other Prospect Capital news, COO M Grier Eliasek bought 942,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $2.92 per share, with a total value of $2,752,976.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 3,443,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,056,275.60. The trade was a 37.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 27.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Prospect Capital

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in shares of Prospect Capital by 38.5% in the 2nd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 11,639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 3,238 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its position in Prospect Capital by 0.5% in the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 844,465 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,685,000 after acquiring an additional 3,880 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC lifted its position in Prospect Capital by 17.1% in the second quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 27,432 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 4,015 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in Prospect Capital by 1.3% in the second quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 351,494 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,118,000 after acquiring an additional 4,613 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Prospect Capital by 1.9% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 262,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $835,000 after purchasing an additional 4,978 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.