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

Prospect Capital Co. (NASDAQ:PSEC) shares saw strong trading volume on Monday following a stronger than expected earnings report. 2,788,540 shares traded hands during 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.04. Prospect Capital had a negative net margin of 2.23% and a positive return on equity of 12.19%. The company had revenue of $196.31 million during the quarter.

Prospect Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a $0.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $0.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.65%. Prospect Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -276.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PSEC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of 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 report on Friday, August 30th.

Institutional Trading of Prospect Capital

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. bought a new position in Prospect Capital during the third quarter worth $105,000. SMH Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Prospect Capital by 43.7% in the 3rd quarter. SMH Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 145,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $779,000 after acquiring an additional 44,301 shares during the period. MWA Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Prospect Capital during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Prospect Capital by 7.4% in the third quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 29,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $157,000 after purchasing an additional 2,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XML Financial LLC boosted its stake in Prospect Capital by 8.1% during the third quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 2,044,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,938,000 after buying an additional 153,180 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.06% of the company’s stock.

Prospect Capital Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $5.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

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.