Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.06 EPS

Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.06, Zacks reports. Prospect Capital had a negative net margin of 42.50% and a positive return on equity of 12.29%. The business had revenue of $119.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $169.53 million.

Prospect Capital Price Performance

NASDAQ:PSEC traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $2.65. 2,342,024 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,282,088. Prospect Capital has a 52 week low of $2.52 and a 52 week high of $4.57. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $2.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $2.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $1.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.09 and a beta of 0.85.

Prospect Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 28th will be given a $0.045 dividend. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 20.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 28th. Prospect Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -62.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Prospect Capital in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Prospect Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Prospect Capital from $3.00 to $2.50 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Sell rating, According to MarketBeat, Prospect Capital has a consensus rating of “Sell” and a consensus price target of $2.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Prospect Capital news, COO M Grier Eliasek bought 370,000 shares of Prospect Capital stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $2.71 per share, with a total value of $1,002,700.00. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer owned 2,501,130 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,778,062.30. This trade represents a 17.36% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO John F. Barry acquired 925,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $2.72 per share, with a total value of $2,516,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer 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 disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders acquired 2,797,158 shares of company stock valued at $7,485,119. Corporate insiders own 27.98% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prospect Capital

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PSEC. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its stake in Prospect Capital by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 844,465 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,685,000 after acquiring an additional 3,880 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its stake in Prospect Capital by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 520,592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,655,000 after acquiring an additional 6,516 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Prospect Capital by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 504,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,387,000 after purchasing an additional 9,008 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Prospect Capital by 51.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 32,262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 10,930 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in shares of Prospect Capital by 92.2% in the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 24,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 11,788 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.06% of the company’s stock.

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.