Saga Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGA) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Saga Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGA) saw a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 13,850 shares, a growth of 44.7% from the February 26th total of 9,569 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 7,803 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days. Approximately 0.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Saga Communications news, major shareholder Edward K. Christian Trust sold 5,665 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.07, for a total transaction of $68,376.55. Following the sale, the insider owned 881,044 shares in the company, valued at $10,634,201.08. This trade represents a 0.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 22.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SGA. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Saga Communications by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $386,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Saga Communications during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $163,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Saga Communications by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 59,371 shares of the company’s stock worth $678,000 after purchasing an additional 1,923 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Saga Communications by 30,720.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $211,000 after buying an additional 16,896 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its position in Saga Communications by 256.7% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 3,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 2,867 shares during the period. 74.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Saga Communications in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Saga Communications from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce”.

Saga Communications Trading Down 0.2%

NASDAQ SGA traded down $0.03 during trading on Friday, hitting $11.97. 6,062 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,212. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $11.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.81. Saga Communications has a 12-month low of $10.68 and a 12-month high of $14.27. The firm has a market cap of $77.09 million, a P/E ratio of -9.81 and a beta of -0.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.74 and a quick ratio of 2.74.

Saga Communications (NASDAQ:SGA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $1.23. Saga Communications had a positive return on equity of 4.43% and a negative net margin of 7.37%.The business had revenue of $26.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.70 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Saga Communications will post 0.23 EPS for the current year.

Saga Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 26th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.4%. Saga Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently -81.97%.

Saga Communications Company Profile

Saga Communications, Inc (NASDAQ: SGA) is an independent radio broadcasting company that owns and operates a portfolio of local radio stations across the United States. Headquartered in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, the company focuses on full?service radio properties offering a variety of formats, including music, news?talk and sports programming. In addition to traditional over?the?air broadcasts, Saga leverages web streaming and mobile platforms to broaden listener reach and provide advertisers with multimedia opportunities.

Founded in 1985 by Edward J.