Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Prospect Capital has been downgraded from a "hold" to a "sell" rating by Wall Street Zen, reflecting negative sentiment among analysts regarding the stock's performance.
• Wells Fargo & Company has reduced its price target on Prospect Capital from $3.00 to $2.50, aligning with the overall consensus rating of "sell" and an average target price of $2.50.
• Despite the downgrade, Prospect Capital's CEO, John F. Barry, made a significant purchase of 623,300 shares in June, indicating potential insider confidence in the company's future.

Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Prospect Capital from $3.00 to $2.50 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Sell rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Prospect Capital presently has an average rating of "Sell" and an average price target of $2.50.

Prospect Capital Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:PSEC traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $2.89. 1,728,097 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,120,959. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $3.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3.53. Prospect Capital has a 12-month low of $2.73 and a 12-month high of $5.57. The stock has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.15 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $166.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $167.08 million. Prospect Capital had a positive return on equity of 12.14% and a negative net margin of 69.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO John F. Barry bought 623,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $3.19 per share, for a total transaction of $1,988,327.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 83,266,026 shares in the company, valued at $265,618,622.94. This represents a 0.75% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 28.25% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Prospect Capital

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new position in Prospect Capital during the second quarter worth about $75,680,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Prospect Capital by 73.9% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,661,121 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $18,002,000 after buying an additional 2,405,299 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Prospect Capital during the second quarter worth $12,424,000. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Prospect Capital by 7.1% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,048,527 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $9,679,000 after acquiring an additional 203,120 shares during the period. Finally, Thomas J. Herzfeld Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Prospect Capital by 26.6% in the first quarter. Thomas J. Herzfeld Advisors Inc. now owns 2,315,582 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $9,494,000 after purchasing an additional 487,171 shares in the last quarter. 9.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.