Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) Upgraded at Compass Point

Compass Point upgraded shares of Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Compass Point currently has $24.75 price target on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on SAR. StockNews.com raised shares of Saratoga Investment from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. B. Riley reissued a neutral rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Saratoga Investment in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Saratoga Investment from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and cut their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $24.94.

Saratoga Investment Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of Saratoga Investment stock opened at $23.24 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.07 and a quick ratio of 0.07. The company has a 50-day moving average of $23.31 and a 200 day moving average of $23.44. The firm has a market cap of $319.55 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.21 and a beta of 1.31. Saratoga Investment has a 1 year low of $22.35 and a 1 year high of $27.68.

Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.96 by ($0.02). Saratoga Investment had a return on equity of 14.67% and a net margin of 10.66%. The business had revenue of $37.23 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.59 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Saratoga Investment will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Saratoga Investment Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 13th were issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.74%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 13th. This is an increase from Saratoga Investment’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. Saratoga Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 244.63%.

Institutional Trading of Saratoga Investment

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Saratoga Investment by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 9,664 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $250,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Saratoga Investment by 7.9% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 11,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $264,000 after buying an additional 832 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Saratoga Investment in the fourth quarter worth approximately $350,000. Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Saratoga Investment in the fourth quarter worth approximately $431,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Saratoga Investment by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 18,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $487,000 after buying an additional 1,444 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 19.09% of the company’s stock.

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.