Insider Buying: Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) Director Purchases 15,000 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Director Eugene Stark bought 15,000 PSEC shares at an average $1.34 each, spending $20,100. The purchase increased his holdings 25% to 75,000 shares.
• Prospect Capital reported quarterly EPS of $0.15, beating the $0.10 consensus, but revenue of $151.74 million fell short of analyst expectations of $163.14 million.
• Analysts’ consensus rating is Sell, with an average price target of $1.50. The company also declared a monthly dividend of $0.035 per share, equivalent to a stated annual yield of 27.8%.

Prospect Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:PSEC - Get Free Report) Director Eugene Stark bought 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $1.34 per share, with a total value of $20,100.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 75,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $100,500. This represents a 25.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Prospect Capital Price Performance

Shares of Prospect Capital stock traded up $0.10 during trading on Monday, reaching $1.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 15,882,028 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,209,770. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $1.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $841.05 million, a P/E ratio of -10.07 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Prospect Capital Corporation has a one year low of $1.29 and a one year high of $3.12.

Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The financial services provider reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.05. Prospect Capital had a return on equity of 13.28% and a net margin of 3.80%. The firm had revenue of $151.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $163.14 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Prospect Capital Corporation will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prospect Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 27th will be given a $0.0350 dividend. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 27.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 27th. Prospect Capital's payout ratio is currently -280.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on PSEC. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Prospect Capital from $2.00 to $1.50 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Zacks Research raised Prospect Capital to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Weiss Ratings lowered Prospect Capital from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Prospect Capital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Prospect Capital presently has a consensus rating of "Sell" and an average target price of $1.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prospect Capital

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Independent Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Prospect Capital during the first quarter valued at approximately $8,644,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Prospect Capital in the second quarter valued at approximately $9,336,000. Private Management Group Inc. grew its stake in Prospect Capital by 51.7% in the second quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 20,534,804 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $47,435,000 after purchasing an additional 6,999,513 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Prospect Capital by 32.7% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,685,724 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $22,374,000 after purchasing an additional 2,388,990 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concorde Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Prospect Capital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $838,000. 9.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Prospect Capital Company Profile

Prospect Capital Corporation NASDAQ: PSEC is a business development company that provides financing and investment capital to middle-market companies. The company primarily invests in privately held businesses through first-lien and second-lien loans, mezzanine debt, and other debt securities, while also making equity and equity-related investments in selected companies.

Prospect Capital invests across a range of industries and has additional exposure to areas such as real estate, structured credit, and financial services.

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