Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) CEO John Barry Buys 232,000 Shares of Stock

Prospect Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:PSEC) CEO John Barry purchased 232,000 shares of Prospect Capital stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $2.32 per share, for a total transaction of $538,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 86,689,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,119,294.32. This represents a 0.27% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Prospect Capital Stock Up 0.9%

Prospect Capital stock opened at $2.34 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $2.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $2.66. Prospect Capital Corporation has a 1-year low of $2.11 and a 1-year high of $3.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.32 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $163.23 million.

Prospect Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 27th will be given a dividend of $0.035 per share. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 17.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 27th. Prospect Capital’s payout ratio is currently -145.95%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Prospect Capital

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PSEC. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Prospect Capital by 29.3% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 393,034 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,611,000 after purchasing an additional 89,139 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Prospect Capital by 140.0% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 88,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $362,000 after purchasing an additional 51,562 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Prospect Capital in the second quarter valued at $87,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new stake in Prospect Capital in the second quarter valued at $116,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Prospect Capital by 0.5% in the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 844,465 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,685,000 after purchasing an additional 3,880 shares during the last quarter. 9.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on PSEC. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Prospect Capital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Prospect Capital in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Sell rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Prospect Capital presently has an average rating of “Sell” and a consensus target price 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.