Empowered Funds LLC Buys 21,747 Shares of Prospect Capital Co. (NASDAQ:PSEC)

Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Prospect Capital Co. (NASDAQ:PSEC) by 144.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 36,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,747 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Prospect Capital were worth $159,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PSEC. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Prospect Capital by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 29,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $157,000 after acquiring an additional 2,010 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in shares of Prospect Capital by 34.9% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 14,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 3,686 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Prospect Capital by 18.0% during the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 25,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $136,000 after acquiring an additional 3,877 shares in the last quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. boosted its position in shares of Prospect Capital by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 50,775 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 6,425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Family Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Prospect Capital by 52.8% during the 4th quarter. Family Wealth Partners LLC now owns 21,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $91,000 after acquiring an additional 7,327 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 9.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Prospect Capital

In related news, CEO John F. Barry bought 2,000,000 shares of Prospect Capital stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $4.29 per share, for a total transaction of $8,580,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 79,477,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $340,958,685.21. This trade represents a 2.58 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO M Grier Eliasek bought 210,000 shares of Prospect Capital stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of $4.81 per share, for a total transaction of $1,010,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,131,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,250,735.30. This represents a 10.93 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 2,215,000 shares of company stock worth $9,613,700 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 27.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Prospect Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th.

Prospect Capital Price Performance

NASDAQ:PSEC opened at $4.44 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.97 billion, a PE ratio of -22.20 and a beta of 0.99. Prospect Capital Co. has a 12 month low of $4.09 and a 12 month high of $5.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $4.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.77.

Prospect Capital Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be given a $0.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. Prospect Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -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.