Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) posted its earnings results on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.04, Zacks reports. Prospect Capital had a positive return on equity of 12.03% and a negative net margin of 10.42%.

Prospect Capital Price Performance

Shares of PSEC traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $2.28. 4,723,225 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,893,347. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a PE ratio of -6.16 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $2.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2.48. Prospect Capital has a fifty-two week low of $2.11 and a fifty-two week high of $3.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PSEC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Prospect Capital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 21st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Prospect Capital from $2.50 to $2.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Prospect Capital from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Sell rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Prospect Capital has an average rating of “Sell” and an average target price of $2.00.

Insider Transactions at Prospect Capital

In other news, CEO John F. Barry bought 1,067,648 shares of Prospect Capital stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $2.27 per share, for a total transaction of $2,423,560.96. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 89,213,725 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,515,155.75. This trade represents a 1.21% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have bought 2,732,648 shares of company stock valued at $6,216,361. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prospect Capital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in Prospect Capital in the 4th quarter valued at $248,000. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Prospect Capital by 307.1% during the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 74,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $194,000 after purchasing an additional 56,410 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Prospect Capital by 132.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 52,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $144,000 after purchasing an additional 29,769 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Prospect Capital in the second quarter valued at $116,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.06% of the company’s stock.

Prospect Capital Company 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.