Advisors Asset Management Inc. Sells 4,972 Shares of Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 107,401 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,972 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. owned 0.75% of Saratoga Investment worth $2,569,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Saratoga Investment during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. bought a new stake in shares of Saratoga Investment during the 3rd quarter worth about $116,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in shares of Saratoga Investment during the 4th quarter worth about $212,000. PVG Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Saratoga Investment during the 3rd quarter worth about $236,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Saratoga Investment during the 4th quarter worth about $266,000. Institutional investors own 19.09% of the company’s stock.

Saratoga Investment Price Performance

SAR stock opened at $24.39 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.37. The stock has a market cap of $349.83 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.83 and a beta of 1.31. Saratoga Investment Corp. has a 1 year low of $21.56 and a 1 year high of $26.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.33 and a quick ratio of 0.33.

Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.08. Saratoga Investment had a net margin of 22.01% and a return on equity of 15.53%. Research analysts anticipate that Saratoga Investment Corp. will post 3.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Saratoga Investment Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.30%. This is a positive change from Saratoga Investment’s previous monthly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. Saratoga Investment’s payout ratio is presently 120.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on SAR shares. Compass Point dropped their price objective on shares of Saratoga Investment from $26.25 to $25.25 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Saratoga Investment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Saratoga Investment has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.08.

Saratoga Investment Profile

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.