Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) Upgraded to "Hold" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Prospect Capital has been upgraded from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating by analysts at Wall Street Zen.
• Wells Fargo lowered its price target for Prospect Capital from $3.00 to $2.50, indicating an "underweight" rating.
• The company reported a $0.17 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing the expected $0.13 EPS, but had a negative net margin of 69.68%.

Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a Sell rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Prospect Capital currently has an average rating of "Sell" and a consensus target price of $2.50.

Prospect Capital Stock Down 4.4%

Prospect Capital stock traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $2.61. 4,168,785 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,905,953. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. Prospect Capital has a 12 month low of $2.57 and a 12 month high of $5.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $2.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3.34. The company has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a PE ratio of -1.95 and a beta of 0.85.

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

Insider Activity at Prospect Capital

In related news, CEO John F. Barry acquired 741,158 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $2.62 per share, with a total value of $1,941,833.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 85,142,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at $223,072,453.96. This trade represents a 0.88% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 1,502,158 shares of company stock valued at $3,966,419. Company insiders own 27.98% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prospect Capital

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Prospect Capital in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $344,000. Tactive Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Prospect Capital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,864,000. Caxton Associates LLP raised its position in Prospect Capital by 86.5% during the 2nd quarter. Caxton Associates LLP now owns 690,059 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,194,000 after buying an additional 319,984 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its position in Prospect Capital by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 319,545 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,015,000 after buying an additional 15,909 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in Prospect Capital by 92.2% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 24,568 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 11,788 shares during the last quarter. 9.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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