Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) Upgraded to Hold at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Monday morning,Zacks reports.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on SAR. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Saratoga Investment from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. B. Riley Financial decreased their target price on Saratoga Investment from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Saratoga Investment from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Saratoga Investment presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.50.

Saratoga Investment Trading Down 1.2%

NYSE:SAR opened at $17.44 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $19.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.30. Saratoga Investment has a 12 month low of $17.34 and a 12 month high of $25.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a market cap of $280.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.44 and a beta of 0.54.

Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.07). Saratoga Investment had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 8.76%. The company had revenue of $30.78 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.38 million. Equities analysts predict that Saratoga Investment will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

Saratoga Investment Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 17.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 3rd. Saratoga Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 300.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Saratoga Investment by 4.5% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 23,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $595,000 after acquiring an additional 1,018 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Saratoga Investment during the second quarter valued at $355,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Saratoga Investment by 24.0% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 6,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $155,000 after acquiring an additional 1,211 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Saratoga Investment in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in Saratoga Investment by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 158,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,861,000 after purchasing an additional 7,006 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 19.09% of the company’s stock.

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.