Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) Lowered to Strong Sell Rating by Zacks Research

Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. B. Riley Financial reduced their price target on shares of Saratoga Investment from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Saratoga Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Saratoga Investment from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Saratoga Investment from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $21.50.

Saratoga Investment Price Performance

NYSE SAR opened at $18.15 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $22.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market cap of $296.03 million, a PE ratio of 18.15 and a beta of 0.54. Saratoga Investment has a 1 year low of $17.34 and a 1 year high of $25.64.

Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.07). Saratoga Investment had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 12.70%.The firm had revenue of ($12.15) million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.38 million. On average, analysts predict that Saratoga Investment will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Saratoga Investment

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new stake in shares of Saratoga Investment during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Saratoga Investment during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in Saratoga Investment in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Saratoga Investment during the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Daytona Street Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Saratoga Investment during the 4th quarter valued at $51,000. 19.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Saratoga Investment Company Profile

Saratoga Investment Corp. is a closed-end, externally managed investment company that seeks to generate current income and total return through a diversified portfolio of private U.S. companies. Trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SAR, the firm primarily targets middle-market businesses across a broad range of industries, including industrials, healthcare, consumer products, financial services and technology. Its investment approach combines debt and equity instruments, providing flexible capital solutions such as first-lien and second-lien secured loans, mezzanine debt, preferred equity and common equity positions.

As an actively managed vehicle, Saratoga Investment works closely with portfolio companies’ management teams to support growth initiatives, operational improvements, and strategic transactions.