PennantPark Floating Rate Capital (NYSE:PFLT) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded PennantPark Floating Rate Capital (NYSE:PFLT) from a “strong sell” to a “hold” rating, adding to a mixed set of analyst views on the stock. The consensus rating remains Moderate Buy with a consensus price target of $9.80.
• The stock has been under pressure, opening at $7.12 and trading near its 52-week low of $6.93, well below its 52-week high of $10.78. Its recent earnings also missed estimates, with EPS of $0.27 versus expectations of $0.28.
• Insiders and institutions remain active in the name: Director Jose A. Briones bought 5,770 shares, while several institutional investors increased their holdings. Institutional ownership stands at 19.77% of the company.

PennantPark Floating Rate Capital (NYSE:PFLT - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

PFLT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Citizens Jmp dropped their price target on shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $9.80.

PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PFLT opened at $7.12 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. PennantPark Floating Rate Capital has a fifty-two week low of $6.93 and a fifty-two week high of $10.78. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $7.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.41. The firm has a market cap of $706.94 million, a PE ratio of 11.49 and a beta of 0.76.

PennantPark Floating Rate Capital (NYSE:PFLT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $44.81 million during the quarter. PennantPark Floating Rate Capital had a net margin of 23.08% and a return on equity of 9.95%. Sell-side analysts expect that PennantPark Floating Rate Capital will post 1.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jose A. Briones bought 5,770 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $8.67 per share, for a total transaction of $50,025.90. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 348,083 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,017,879.61. This represents a 1.69% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PennantPark Floating Rate Capital

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PFLT. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its position in PennantPark Floating Rate Capital by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 4,940,809 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,576,000 after purchasing an additional 296,851 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in PennantPark Floating Rate Capital by 42.9% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,057,399 shares of the company's stock worth $18,290,000 after purchasing an additional 617,657 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its position in PennantPark Floating Rate Capital by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,367,442 shares of the company's stock worth $12,676,000 after purchasing an additional 71,372 shares during the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd increased its stake in shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital by 44.1% in the fourth quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 1,320,156 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,238,000 after purchasing an additional 404,117 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital by 17.3% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,262,880 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,227,000 after purchasing an additional 186,570 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 19.77% of the company's stock.

PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Company Profile

PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Ltd. is a business development company. It seeks to make secondary direct, debt, equity, and loan investments. The fund seeks to invest through floating rate loans in private or thinly traded or small market-cap, public middle market companies. It primarily invests in the United States and to a limited extent non-U.S. companies. The fund typically invests between $2 million and $20 million. The fund also invests in equity securities, such as preferred stock, common stock, warrants or options received in connection with debt investments or through direct investments.

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