Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) Hits New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

Shares of Prospect Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:PSEC) reached a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $2.11 and last traded at $2.1350, with a volume of 4996102 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.15.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PSEC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen raised Prospect Capital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 21st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Prospect Capital from $2.50 to $2.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Prospect Capital from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Sell rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Sell” and an average target price of $2.00.

Prospect Capital Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.76 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $2.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $150.07 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $163.23 million. Prospect Capital had a positive return on equity of 12.03% and a negative net margin of 10.42%.

Prospect Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.035 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 27th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 19.7%. Prospect Capital’s dividend payout ratio is -113.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO John F. Barry bought 1,067,648 shares of Prospect Capital stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $2.27 per share, with a total value of $2,423,560.96. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 89,213,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $202,515,155.75. This represents a 1.21% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 2,732,648 shares of company stock valued at $6,216,361. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Prospect Capital

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of Prospect Capital by 70.7% in the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 6,668,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,338,000 after acquiring an additional 2,761,351 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Prospect Capital by 356.3% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 6,231,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,138,000 after acquiring an additional 4,866,312 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Prospect Capital by 73.9% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,661,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,002,000 after purchasing an additional 2,405,299 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in Prospect Capital by 44.5% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 4,989,986 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,924,000 after purchasing an additional 1,536,808 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its holdings in Prospect Capital by 99.9% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 4,096,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,267,000 after purchasing an additional 2,047,189 shares during the period. 9.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Prospect Capital Company Profile

Prospect Capital Corporation is a publicly traded business development company listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange that specializes in providing private debt and equity financing solutions to middle-market companies across the United States. Structured as a closed-end, non-diversified management investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, Prospect Capital offers investors access to a diversified portfolio of senior secured loans, subordinated debt and selective equity interests in privately held businesses.

Since its founding in 2004, Prospect Capital has focused on tailoring financing structures to meet the growth, acquisition and recapitalization needs of its portfolio companies.