Investors Buy High Volume of Put Options on Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC)

Prospect Capital Co. (NASDAQ:PSEC) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors purchased 11,538 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 322% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,731 put options.

Prospect Capital Trading Down 3.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ PSEC traded down $0.16 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $5.06. 2,637,544 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,890,713. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $5.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.11 billion, a PE ratio of 15.12 and a beta of 1.01. Prospect Capital has a 12-month low of $5.02 and a 12-month high of $6.39.

Prospect Capital (NASDAQ:PSEC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $202.22 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $214.70 million. Prospect Capital had a return on equity of 13.32% and a net margin of 25.13%.

Prospect Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 28th will be given a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 14.23%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 28th. Prospect Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 211.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PSEC. StockNews.com upgraded Prospect Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Prospect Capital from $5.50 to $5.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 16th.

Insider Activity

In other Prospect Capital news, CFO Dask Kristin Lea Van bought 3,330 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $22.50 per share, for a total transaction of $74,925.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,127.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 26.69% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prospect Capital

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PSEC. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Prospect Capital by 26.1% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,161,151 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,905,000 after acquiring an additional 1,276,762 shares in the last quarter. XML Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Prospect Capital by 29.1% during the first quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,712,938 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,455,000 after buying an additional 386,266 shares during the period. TrueMark Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Prospect Capital during the second quarter worth approximately $2,107,000. LSV Asset Management increased its stake in shares of Prospect Capital by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,035,654 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,194,000 after buying an additional 298,400 shares during the period. Finally, Jump Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Prospect Capital by 105.9% during the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 328,220 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,966,000 after buying an additional 168,820 shares during the period. 9.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.