Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) Sets New 12-Month Low – Here’s What Happened

Prospect Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:PSEC)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $2.11 and last traded at $2.20, with a volume of 6982579 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $2.15.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PSEC. Wall Street Zen upgraded Prospect Capital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Prospect Capital from $2.50 to $2.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Prospect Capital in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Sell rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Sell” and an average price target of $2.00.

Prospect Capital Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $2.57 and a 200 day moving average of $2.66. The company has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.16 and a beta of 0.82. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.05. Prospect Capital had a positive return on equity of 12.03% and a negative net margin of 10.42%.The company had revenue of $150.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $163.23 million.

Prospect Capital Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.035 dividend. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 18.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 27th. Prospect Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -145.95%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Prospect Capital

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Prospect Capital by 42.6% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 81,016 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $212,000 after purchasing an additional 24,188 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in Prospect Capital by 23.9% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 316,704 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $827,000 after purchasing an additional 61,182 shares during the last quarter. Spartan Wealth Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Prospect Capital in the first quarter worth about $50,000. Modera Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Prospect Capital in the first quarter worth about $69,000. Finally, Independent Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Prospect Capital in the first quarter worth about $8,644,000. 9.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Prospect Capital

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.