Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) COO M Grier Eliasek Buys 942,800 Shares

Prospect Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:PSEC) COO M Grier Eliasek purchased 942,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $2.92 per share, for a total transaction of $2,752,976.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 3,443,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,056,275.60. This trade represents a 37.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Prospect Capital Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PSEC opened at $3.05 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Prospect Capital Corporation has a 1 year low of $2.45 and a 1 year high of $4.47. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $2.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.47 billion, a PE ratio of -3.77 and a beta of 0.90.

Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 9th. The financial services provider reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $176.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.045 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 28th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 17.7%. Prospect Capital’s payout ratio is presently -66.67%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PSEC. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Prospect Capital by 356.3% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 6,231,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,138,000 after purchasing an additional 4,866,312 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of Prospect Capital during the second quarter valued at $12,424,000. Private Management Group Inc. bought a new position in Prospect Capital in the fourth quarter valued at about $8,352,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Prospect Capital by 73.9% in 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 period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP raised its stake in shares of Prospect Capital by 99.9% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 4,096,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,267,000 after buying an additional 2,047,189 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on PSEC. Wall Street Zen cut Prospect Capital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Prospect Capital in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Sell rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Sell” and a consensus price target of $2.50.

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.