Prospect Capital Corporation $PSEC is SMH Capital Advisors Inc.’s 8th Largest Position

SMH Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Prospect Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:PSEC) by 201.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 438,847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 293,311 shares during the period. Prospect Capital makes up 2.4% of SMH Capital Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. SMH Capital Advisors Inc. owned 0.09% of Prospect Capital worth $1,167,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Prospect Capital by 29.3% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 393,034 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,611,000 after buying an additional 89,139 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Prospect Capital by 140.0% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 88,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $362,000 after acquiring an additional 51,562 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Prospect Capital by 1,485.5% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 28,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 26,560 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Prospect Capital during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Creative Planning grew its stake in Prospect Capital by 15.0% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 188,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $599,000 after purchasing an additional 24,539 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.06% of the company’s stock.

Prospect Capital Stock Performance

Shares of PSEC stock opened at $2.73 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.37 and a beta of 0.87. Prospect Capital Corporation has a one year low of $2.45 and a one year high of $4.39. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $2.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74.

Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 9th. The financial services provider reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.09. Prospect Capital had a positive return on equity of 11.91% and a negative net margin of 39.56%.The firm had revenue of $176.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.34 million.

Prospect Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 28th will be given a dividend of $0.045 per share. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 19.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 28th. Prospect Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently -66.67%.

Insider Transactions at Prospect Capital

In other news, COO M Grier Eliasek acquired 942,800 shares of Prospect Capital stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $2.92 per share, for a total transaction of $2,752,976.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer directly owned 3,443,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,056,275.60. This trade represents a 37.69% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 27.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PSEC. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Prospect Capital in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Prospect Capital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Sell rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Sell” and a consensus price target of $2.50.

Prospect Capital 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.