Insider Buying: Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) CEO Purchases 1,067,648 Shares

Prospect Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:PSEC) CEO John Barry acquired 1,067,648 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $2.27 per share, for a total transaction of $2,423,560.96. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 89,213,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $202,515,155.75. This represents a 1.21% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Prospect Capital Stock Up 2.3%

Shares of NASDAQ PSEC traded up $0.05 on Thursday, reaching $2.27. 6,684,920 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,047,400. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $2.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $2.60. Prospect Capital Corporation has a 12 month low of $2.11 and a 12 month high of $3.50. The company has a market cap of $1.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.13 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

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

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 issued a $0.035 dividend. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 18.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 27th. Prospect Capital’s payout ratio is -113.51%.

Institutional Trading of Prospect Capital

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Prospect Capital by 356.3% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 6,231,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,138,000 after purchasing an additional 4,866,312 shares in the last quarter. Independent Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Prospect Capital during the first quarter valued at $8,644,000. Private Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Prospect Capital during the fourth quarter valued at $8,352,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Prospect Capital by 70.7% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 6,668,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,338,000 after buying an additional 2,761,351 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Prospect Capital by 73.9% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,661,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,002,000 after buying an additional 2,405,299 shares in the last quarter. 9.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Prospect Capital from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Prospect Capital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Prospect Capital from $2.50 to $2.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Sell rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Sell” and an average 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.