Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR) was the target of a large increase in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 151,000 shares, an increase of 17.1% from the January 15th total of 129,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 91,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SAR. Compass Point dropped their price target on Saratoga Investment from $26.25 to $25.25 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Saratoga Investment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.08.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Saratoga Investment

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Saratoga Investment by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 144,817 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,464,000 after purchasing an additional 6,632 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $2,603,000 after purchasing an additional 107,499 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its holdings in Saratoga Investment by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 109,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,626,000 after purchasing an additional 3,292 shares during the period. Lido Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Saratoga Investment by 32.1% in the 4th quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 94,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,272,000 after purchasing an additional 23,089 shares during the period. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP raised its holdings in Saratoga Investment by 133.0% in the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 64,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,531,000 after purchasing an additional 36,544 shares during the period. 19.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Saratoga Investment Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SAR traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $25.37. 128,264 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 69,520. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $24.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $364.07 million, a P/E ratio of 10.23 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.33. Saratoga Investment has a one year low of $21.56 and a one year high of $26.49.

Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.08. Saratoga Investment had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 22.01%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Saratoga Investment will post 3.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.