Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Friday morning.

SAR has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Saratoga Investment from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. B. Riley reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of Saratoga Investment in a report on Thursday, October 10th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded Saratoga Investment from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Compass Point increased their price target on Saratoga Investment from $24.75 to $26.25 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Saratoga Investment currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.42.

Saratoga Investment Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SAR opened at $24.20 on Friday. Saratoga Investment has a 1-year low of $21.56 and a 1-year high of $26.49. The business has a 50-day moving average of $24.47 and a 200-day moving average of $23.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.22 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The company has a market capitalization of $333.98 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.82 and a beta of 1.33.

Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.08. Saratoga Investment had a return on equity of 15.88% and a net margin of 13.64%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Saratoga Investment will post 3.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Saratoga Investment Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a None dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th were paid a dividend of $1.09 per share. This represents a yield of 11.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 4th. Saratoga Investment’s payout ratio is currently 193.46%.

Institutional Trading of Saratoga Investment

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Saratoga Investment during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $116,000. Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Saratoga Investment by 12.2% during the 2nd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 9,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Saratoga Investment by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 9,885 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 770 shares during the period. PVG Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Saratoga Investment during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $236,000. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in shares of Saratoga Investment by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 22,224 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $505,000 after purchasing an additional 1,677 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.