Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Here’s Why

Prospect Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:PSEC)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday. The company traded as low as $1.58 and last traded at $1.5750, with a volume of 559,745 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $1.60.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on PSEC. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Prospect Capital from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Prospect Capital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Prospect Capital to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Sell” and a consensus price target of $2.00.

Prospect Capital Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $795.39 million, a P/E ratio of 29.80 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $2.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2.27.

Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.04. Prospect Capital had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 12.15%. The firm had revenue of $155.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $149.80 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Prospect Capital Corporation will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prospect Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 28th will be paid a $0.0350 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 28th. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 28.2%. Prospect Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 840.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO John Barry. III acquired 1,217,105 shares of Prospect Capital stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $2.24 per share, with a total value of $2,726,315.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 90,479,988 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,675,173.12. This represents a 1.36% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 25.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prospect Capital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PSEC. Independent Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Prospect Capital during the 1st quarter valued at about $8,644,000. Private Management Group Inc. raised its holdings in Prospect Capital by 51.7% in the second quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 20,534,804 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,435,000 after buying an additional 6,999,513 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Prospect Capital in the second quarter worth about $9,336,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Prospect Capital by 32.7% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,685,724 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,374,000 after buying an additional 2,388,990 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concorde Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Prospect Capital in the second quarter worth approximately $838,000. 9.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Prospect Capital Company Profile

Prospect Capital Corporation is a business development company that provides financing to privately held, middle-market companies. The company primarily invests in first-lien and second-lien loans, subordinated debt, and other debt and equity securities. Its investments are designed to support acquisitions, recapitalizations, growth initiatives, refinancings, and other corporate purposes.

Through its investment platform, Prospect Capital also participates in specialized finance and structured investment activities, including investments in real estate-related assets and other operating businesses.