Wall Street Zen Upgrades Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) to “Buy”

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

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on PSEC. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Prospect Capital in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Prospect Capital from $3.00 to $2.50 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Sell rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Prospect Capital presently has an average rating of “Sell” and a consensus price target of $2.50.

Prospect Capital Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PSEC opened at $2.67 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Prospect Capital has a 1-year low of $2.52 and a 1-year high of $4.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.10 and a beta of 0.85. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $2.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $2.95.

Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $119.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $169.53 million. Prospect Capital had a positive return on equity of 12.29% and a negative net margin of 42.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO M Grier Eliasek bought 370,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $2.71 per share, for a total transaction of $1,002,700.00. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer owned 2,501,130 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,778,062.30. This trade represents a 17.36% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO John F. Barry acquired 925,000 shares of Prospect Capital stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $2.72 per share, with a total value of $2,516,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 86,067,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $234,102,669.76. This trade represents a 1.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 2,797,158 shares of company stock valued at $7,485,119. Company insiders own 27.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Prospect Capital

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in shares of Prospect Capital during the 2nd quarter worth about $75,680,000. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new position in Prospect Capital during the first quarter worth about $1,517,000. Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its position in Prospect Capital by 146.5% during the second quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 345,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,097,000 after buying an additional 205,108 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC raised its stake in Prospect Capital by 91.9% in the first quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 308,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,266,000 after buying an additional 147,882 shares during the period. Finally, Naviter Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Prospect Capital by 50.3% in the second quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 680,135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,183,000 after buying an additional 227,595 shares during the last quarter. 9.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.