Legal & General Group Plc Buys 593,563 Shares of Prospect Capital Corporation $PSEC

Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Prospect Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:PSEC) by 21.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,321,477 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 593,563 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Prospect Capital were worth $8,652,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Prospect Capital during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Bfsg LLC bought a new stake in Prospect Capital during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Navalign LLC bought a new stake in Prospect Capital during the third quarter worth $28,000. Ground Swell Capital LLC bought a new stake in Prospect Capital during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Prospect Capital during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. 9.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on PSEC. Wall Street Zen upgraded Prospect Capital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Prospect Capital from $2.50 to $2.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded 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, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Sell” and an average target price of $2.00.

Prospect Capital Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:PSEC opened at $2.28 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a PE ratio of -6.16 and a beta of 0.78. Prospect Capital Corporation has a 52-week low of $2.11 and a 52-week high of $3.50. The company has a fifty day moving average of $2.53 and a 200-day moving average of $2.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $150.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $163.23 million. Prospect Capital had a positive return on equity of 12.03% and a negative net margin of 10.42%.

Prospect Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 27th will be given a dividend of $0.035 per share. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 18.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 27th. Prospect Capital’s dividend payout ratio is -113.51%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO John F. Barry acquired 433,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were bought at an average price of $2.32 per share, with a total value of $1,004,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 87,122,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $202,123,912.32. This trade represents a 0.50% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Prospect Capital

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.