Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) Stock Price Up 5.5% on Insider Buying Activity

Prospect Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:PSEC)’s stock price was up 5.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. The company traded as high as $2.79 and last traded at $2.79. Approximately 1,272,274 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 60% from the average daily volume of 3,210,324 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.64.

Specifically, CEO John F. Barry acquired 925,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $2.72 per share, for a total transaction of $2,516,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 86,067,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $234,102,669.76. The trade was a 1.09% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO M Grier Eliasek bought 370,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $2.71 per share, with a total value of $1,002,700.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer directly owned 2,501,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,778,062.30. This trade represents a 17.36% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In related news, CEO John F. Barry acquired 741,158 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $2.62 per share, with a total value of $1,941,833.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 85,142,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $223,072,453.96. This represents a 0.88% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Prospect Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Prospect Capital from $3.00 to $2.50 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Sell rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Prospect Capital currently has a consensus rating of “Sell” and an average price target of $2.50.

Prospect Capital Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $2.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a PE ratio of -2.05 and a beta of 0.85.

Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.04. Prospect Capital had a positive return on equity of 12.14% and a negative net margin of 69.68%.The business had revenue of $166.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.08 million.

Prospect Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 29th will be paid a $0.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 29th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 19.6%. Prospect Capital’s dividend payout ratio is -40.30%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prospect Capital

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Prospect Capital during the first quarter worth about $25,000. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Prospect Capital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. KG&L Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Prospect Capital during the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,000. Significant Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Prospect Capital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA boosted its position in shares of Prospect Capital by 38.5% during the second quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 11,639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 3,238 shares during the period. 9.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Prospect Capital

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.