Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) CEO Purchases 1,217,105 Shares of Stock

Prospect Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:PSEC) CEO John Barry purchased 1,217,105 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $2.24 per share, for a total transaction of $2,726,315.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 90,479,988 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $202,675,173.12. This represents a 1.36% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Prospect Capital Stock Down 0.5%

PSEC stock traded down $0.01 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $2.18. The stock had a trading volume of 3,559,096 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,843,772. 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 company has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.60 and a beta of 0.80. Prospect Capital Corporation has a one year low of $2.11 and a one year high of $3.13. The company’s 50 day moving average is $2.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2.42.

Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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.

Prospect Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 28th will be given a $0.035 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 28th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 19.3%. Prospect Capital’s payout ratio is currently 840.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prospect Capital

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Private Management Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Prospect Capital by 51.7% during the 2nd quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 20,534,804 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,435,000 after buying an additional 6,999,513 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Prospect Capital by 32.7% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,685,724 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $22,374,000 after acquiring an additional 2,388,990 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in Prospect Capital by 70.7% during the 3rd 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 lifted its position in shares of Prospect Capital by 356.3% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Prospect Capital by 73.9% in the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,661,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,002,000 after acquiring an additional 2,405,299 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PSEC. Weiss Ratings lowered Prospect Capital from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target 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, Wall Street Zen downgraded Prospect Capital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Sell rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Sell” and a consensus price target of $2.00.

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.