Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Friday morning.

SAR has been the topic of a number of other reports. B. Riley restated a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of Saratoga Investment in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Saratoga Investment from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded Saratoga Investment from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Compass Point increased their price target on shares of Saratoga Investment from $24.75 to $26.25 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.42.

Saratoga Investment Price Performance

SAR stock opened at $24.20 on Friday. Saratoga Investment has a 52-week low of $21.56 and a 52-week high of $26.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market cap of $347.17 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.82 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a fifty day moving average of $24.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.68.

Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.08. Saratoga Investment had a return on equity of 15.88% and a net margin of 13.64%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Saratoga Investment will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Saratoga Investment Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a None dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th were given a dividend of $1.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a dividend yield of 11.9%. Saratoga Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 119.35%.

Institutional Trading of Saratoga Investment

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Saratoga Investment by 14.4% in the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 138,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,205,000 after purchasing an additional 17,379 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Saratoga Investment by 2,268.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 112,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,603,000 after acquiring an additional 107,499 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Saratoga Investment during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,450,000. Next Level Private LLC lifted its position in Saratoga Investment by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. Next Level Private LLC now owns 39,154 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $908,000 after acquiring an additional 6,619 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Saratoga Investment by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 22,224 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $505,000 after purchasing an additional 1,677 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 19.09% of the company’s stock.

About Saratoga Investment

Saratoga Investment Corp. is a business development company specializing in leveraged and management buyouts, acquisition financings, growth financings, recapitalization, debt refinancing, and transitional financing transactions at the lower end of middle market companies. It structures its investments as debt and equity by investing through first and second lien loans, mezzanine debt, co-investments, select high yield bonds, senior secured bonds, unsecured bonds, and preferred and common equity.