Short Interest in Prospect Capital Co. (NASDAQ:PSEC) Increases By 28.0%

Prospect Capital Co. (NASDAQ:PSEC - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 22,740,000 shares, a growth of 28.0% from the March 15th total of 17,760,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,840,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 8.0 days. Approximately 6.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Prospect Capital from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th.

Insider Transactions at Prospect Capital

In other news, CEO John F. Barry purchased 2,000,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $4.32 per share, with a total value of $8,640,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 81,501,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $352,088,350.56. This represents a 2.52 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director William Gremp acquired 19,100 shares of Prospect Capital stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $4.29 per share, for a total transaction of $81,939.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 75,153 shares in the company, valued at approximately $322,406.37. The trade was a 34.07 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have purchased 2,548,000 shares of company stock valued at $10,970,715. 28.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Prospect Capital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PSEC. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Prospect Capital by 6,177.6% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,478,914 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $10,684,000 after buying an additional 2,439,426 shares during the period. Thomas J. Herzfeld Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Prospect Capital in the fourth quarter worth $7,880,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Prospect Capital by 4,160.3% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 946,648 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,080,000 after purchasing an additional 924,428 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Prospect Capital by 3,430.6% during the first quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 624,419 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,560,000 after purchasing an additional 606,733 shares during the period. Finally, Naviter Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Prospect Capital in the 4th quarter worth about $2,216,000. 9.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Prospect Capital Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PSEC traded up $0.07 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $3.63. The company had a trading volume of 2,677,050 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,775,952. The stock has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.15 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.41. Prospect Capital has a one year low of $3.39 and a one year high of $5.72.

Prospect Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a $0.045 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 12.47%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. Prospect Capital's dividend payout ratio is currently -270.00%.

About Prospect Capital

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.