Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume After Strong Earnings

Prospect Capital Co. (NASDAQ:PSEC) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Monday following a stronger than expected earnings report. Approximately 2,788,540 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 25% from the previous session’s volume of 2,234,105 shares.The stock last traded at $4.30 and had previously closed at $4.47.

The financial services provider reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $196.31 million during the quarter. Prospect Capital had a negative net margin of 2.23% and a positive return on equity of 12.19%.

Prospect Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a $0.045 dividend. This represents a $0.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.65%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. Prospect Capital’s payout ratio is -276.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PSEC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Prospect Capital from $5.00 to $4.50 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. StockNews.com cut Prospect Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Prospect Capital by 275.0% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 43,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 31,985 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of Prospect Capital by 51.2% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 23,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $130,000 after buying an additional 8,000 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in Prospect Capital during the first quarter valued at approximately $94,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Prospect Capital in the first quarter worth $73,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its position in Prospect Capital by 2,266.9% during the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 7,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 7,254 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 9.06% of the company’s stock.

Prospect Capital Trading Down 2.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.34.

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.