Van ECK Associates Corp Increases Stock Position in Prospect Capital Corporation $PSEC

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Prospect Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:PSEC) by 9.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,255,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 866,860 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Prospect Capital were worth $28,203,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Prospect Capital during the second quarter valued at approximately $12,424,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Prospect Capital by 73.9% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,661,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,002,000 after buying an additional 2,405,299 shares during the last quarter. Tactive Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Prospect Capital in the second quarter worth $1,864,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Prospect Capital by 291.1% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 660,665 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,101,000 after acquiring an additional 491,749 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caxton Associates LLP grew its stake in shares of Prospect Capital by 86.5% in the second quarter. Caxton Associates LLP now owns 690,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,194,000 after acquiring an additional 319,984 shares during the last quarter. 9.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Prospect Capital news, COO M Grier Eliasek purchased 942,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $2.92 per share, for a total transaction of $2,752,976.00. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer directly owned 3,443,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,056,275.60. The trade was a 37.69% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 27.98% of the company’s stock.

Prospect Capital Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of PSEC stock opened at $2.66 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Prospect Capital Corporation has a 12-month low of $2.45 and a 12-month high of $4.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.29 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.28 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $2.79 and its 200 day moving average is $2.73.

Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The financial services provider reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $176.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.34 million. Prospect Capital had a positive return on equity of 11.91% and a negative net margin of 39.56%.

Prospect Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.045 per share. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 20.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 28th. Prospect Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently -66.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PSEC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Prospect Capital in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Prospect Capital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Sell rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Sell” and a consensus price target of $2.50.

Prospect Capital 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.