Short Interest in Prospect Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:PSEC) Grows By 24.7%

Prospect Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:PSEC - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 29,460,000 shares, a growth of 24.7% from the May 15th total of 23,620,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,360,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 8.8 days. Approximately 8.1% of the company's stock are sold short.

Insider Activity at Prospect Capital

In other news, CEO John F. Barry acquired 24,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were bought at an average price of $4.24 per share, with a total value of $101,760.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 82,594,540 shares in the company, valued at $350,200,849.60. This trade represents a 0.03% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 28.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Prospect Capital

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Prospect Capital by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 145,095 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $625,000 after acquiring an additional 2,732 shares during the period. Modern Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Prospect Capital by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,566 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $136,000 after purchasing an additional 2,774 shares in the last quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. grew its stake in shares of Prospect Capital by 27.8% during the 4th quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 15,940 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 3,467 shares during the period. Global Assets Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Prospect Capital by 33.4% in the 4th quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 15,998 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 4,006 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its stake in shares of Prospect Capital by 1.2% in the first quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 346,881 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,422,000 after purchasing an additional 4,050 shares during the period. 9.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PSEC. Wall Street Zen upgraded Prospect Capital from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Prospect Capital from $3.50 to $3.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 12th.

Prospect Capital Stock Performance

Shares of PSEC remained flat at $3.18 during mid-day trading on Wednesday. 2,720,207 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,017,771. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Prospect Capital has a twelve month low of $3.14 and a twelve month high of $5.65. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $3.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4.00. The stock has a market cap of $1.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.70 and a beta of 0.85.

Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.05. Prospect Capital had a positive return on equity of 12.43% and a negative net margin of 36.07%. The company had revenue of $170.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $174.29 million.

Prospect Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 29th will be issued a $0.045 dividend. This represents a yield of 16.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 28th. Prospect Capital's dividend payout ratio is presently -62.79%.

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.

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