Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) Sets New 12-Month Low - Time to Sell?

Prospect Capital Co. (NASDAQ:PSEC - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $3.49 and last traded at $3.57, with a volume of 2503742 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $3.59.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PSEC has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com raised Prospect Capital from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Prospect Capital from $4.00 to $3.50 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th.

Prospect Capital Trading Up 0.7 %

The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $3.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.59 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.93 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76.

Prospect Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a $0.045 dividend. This represents a yield of 12.47%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. Prospect Capital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -270.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director William Gremp bought 19,100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $4.29 per share, with a total value of $81,939.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 75,153 shares in the company, valued at $322,406.37. This represents a 34.07 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO John F. Barry purchased 240,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $4.20 per share, with a total value of $1,008,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 81,981,933 shares in the company, valued at $344,324,118.60. The trade was a 0.29 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders acquired 2,548,000 shares of company stock valued at $10,970,715. 28.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prospect Capital

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of Prospect Capital during the first quarter worth about $434,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Prospect Capital during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Choreo LLC increased its position in Prospect Capital by 22.2% in the 1st quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 308,801 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,278,000 after acquiring an additional 56,064 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Prospect Capital by 16.4% during the first quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 128,237 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $526,000 after acquiring an additional 18,099 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Prospect Capital by 48.0% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 589,686 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,418,000 after acquiring an additional 191,354 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.06% of the company's stock.

About Prospect Capital

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.