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

StockNews.com lowered shares of Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Friday morning.

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

Prospect Capital Trading Up 4.6 %

Prospect Capital stock opened at $5.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market cap of $2.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.38 and a beta of 1.01. 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 price is $5.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5.44.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.07. Prospect Capital had a net margin of 28.07% and a return on equity of 13.53%. The company had revenue of $212.26 million during the quarter. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.23 EPS.

Prospect Capital Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Prospect Capital

In other Prospect Capital news, CFO Dask Kristin Lea Van purchased 3,330 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $22.50 per share, with a total value of $74,925.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,539 shares in the company, valued at $102,127.50. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 26.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Prospect Capital

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PSEC. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. increased its position in shares of Prospect Capital by 57.9% during the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 127,940 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $766,000 after acquiring an additional 46,903 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in Prospect Capital by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 193,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,156,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of Prospect Capital by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,035,654 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,194,000 after purchasing an additional 298,400 shares in the last quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV purchased a new position in shares of Prospect Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $564,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Prospect Capital by 105.9% during the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 328,220 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,966,000 after purchasing an additional 168,820 shares in 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.