Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) CEO Purchases $2,250,000.00 in Stock

Prospect Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:PSEC) CEO John Barry bought 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $2.25 per share, with a total value of $2,250,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 88,146,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $198,328,673.25. This represents a 1.15% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Prospect Capital Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of NASDAQ PSEC traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $2.22. The company had a trading volume of 8,018,805 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,032,641. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $2.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2.60. Prospect Capital Corporation has a 52-week low of $2.11 and a 52-week high of $3.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.00 and a beta of 0.78.

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

Prospect Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 27th will be issued a $0.035 dividend. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 18.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 27th. Prospect Capital’s payout ratio is presently -113.51%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prospect Capital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $17,138,000 after acquiring an additional 4,866,312 shares during the last quarter. Independent Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Prospect Capital in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $8,644,000. Private Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Prospect Capital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,352,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 2,761,351 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $18,002,000 after purchasing an additional 2,405,299 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on PSEC shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Prospect Capital from $2.50 to $2.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings raised Prospect Capital from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Prospect Capital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Sell rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Sell” and a consensus target price of $2.00.

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.