Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Sell

StockNews.com cut shares of Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Friday.

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Prospect Capital from $5.00 to $4.50 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a report on Friday.

Prospect Capital Stock Up 4.6 %

Shares of Prospect Capital stock opened at $5.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Prospect Capital has a 1 year low of $4.69 and a 1 year high of $6.30. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $5.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.44. The stock has a market cap of $2.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.38 and a beta of 1.01.

Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.07. Prospect Capital had a net margin of 25.13% and a return on equity of 13.32%. The company had revenue of $212.26 million for the quarter. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.23 earnings per share.

Prospect Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th will be issued a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.77%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 29th. Prospect Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 211.76%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Dask Kristin Lea Van acquired 3,330 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $22.50 per share, with a total value of $74,925.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,127.50. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 26.69% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prospect Capital

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. OLD National Bancorp IN purchased a new position in shares of Prospect Capital in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $137,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Prospect Capital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $888,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Prospect Capital in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $91,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Prospect Capital in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $94,000. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its position in shares of Prospect Capital by 59.7% in the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 394,365 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,177,000 after purchasing an additional 147,460 shares during the last quarter. 9.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Prospect Capital Company Profile

Prospect Capital Corporation is a business development company. It specializes in middle market, mature, mezzanine finance, later stage, emerging growth, leveraged buyouts, refinancing, acquisitions, recapitalizations, turnaround, growth capital, development, capital expenditures and subordinated debt tranches of collateralized loan obligations, cash flow term loans, market place lending and bridge transactions.