Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $26.75.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SAR. B. Riley cut Saratoga Investment from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $28.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, January 8th. Compass Point cut Saratoga Investment from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $24.75 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Saratoga Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Saratoga Investment by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 146,577 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,996,000 after purchasing an additional 8,347 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Saratoga Investment by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 125,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,909,000 after acquiring an additional 2,154 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in shares of Saratoga Investment by 34.0% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 110,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,854,000 after acquiring an additional 28,027 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd raised its position in shares of Saratoga Investment by 80.3% in the 4th quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 100,385 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,595,000 after acquiring an additional 44,722 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Saratoga Investment by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 97,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,532,000 after acquiring an additional 10,915 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 19.09% of the company’s stock.

Saratoga Investment Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of SAR stock opened at $22.72 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $310.13 million, a PE ratio of 11.71 and a beta of 1.32. Saratoga Investment has a 1-year low of $22.35 and a 1-year high of $28.87. The business has a 50-day moving average of $23.18 and a 200 day moving average of $24.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.07 and a quick ratio of 0.07.

Saratoga Investment Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.73 per share. This is a positive change from Saratoga Investment’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.85%. Saratoga Investment’s dividend payout ratio is presently 150.52%.

Saratoga Investment Company 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.