Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.06 EPS

Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.06, Zacks reports. Prospect Capital had a negative net margin of 69.68% and a positive return on equity of 12.14%. The business had revenue of $119.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $169.53 million.

Prospect Capital Stock Performance

Prospect Capital stock traded up $0.19 on Friday, reaching $2.74. 4,162,729 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,274,755. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Prospect Capital has a twelve month low of $2.52 and a twelve month high of $4.88. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $2.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3.09. The stock has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a PE ratio of -2.04 and a beta of 0.86.

Prospect Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 28th will be given a dividend of $0.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 28th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 19.7%. Prospect Capital’s payout ratio is currently -40.30%.

Insider Transactions at Prospect Capital

In other Prospect Capital news, CEO John F. Barry purchased 925,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $2.72 per share, with a total value of $2,516,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 86,067,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $234,102,669.76. This represents a 1.09% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO M Grier Eliasek acquired 370,000 shares of Prospect Capital stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $2.71 per share, with a total value of $1,002,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 2,501,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,778,062.30. This trade represents a 17.36% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders bought 2,797,158 shares of company stock worth $7,485,119 over the last quarter. 27.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prospect Capital

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Prospect Capital by 0.5% in the 2nd 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 period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its position in shares of Prospect Capital by 1.3% during the second quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 520,592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,655,000 after buying an additional 6,516 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Prospect Capital by 92.2% in the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 24,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 11,788 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its position in Prospect Capital by 5.2% during the second quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 319,545 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,015,000 after buying an additional 15,909 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in Prospect Capital during the second quarter valued at about $87,000. 9.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PSEC has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Prospect Capital in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Prospect Capital from $3.00 to $2.50 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Prospect Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Sell rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Sell” and a consensus target price of $2.50.

Prospect Capital Company Profile

Prospect Capital Corporation is a business development company. It specializes in middle market, mature, mezzanine finance, later stage, emerging growth, leveraged buyouts, refinancing, acquisitions, recapitalizations, turnaround, growth capital, development, capital expenditures and subordinated debt tranches of collateralized loan obligations, cash flow term loans, market place lending and bridge transactions.