Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Friday.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Compass Point lifted their price objective on shares of Saratoga Investment from $24.75 to $26.25 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Saratoga Investment from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded shares of Saratoga Investment from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, B. Riley reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Saratoga Investment in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.42.

Saratoga Investment Stock Down 1.2 %

SAR stock traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $24.20. 123,381 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 63,197. The company has a market capitalization of $333.98 million, a PE ratio of 15.82 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Saratoga Investment has a twelve month low of $21.56 and a twelve month high of $26.49. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.67.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Saratoga Investment

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. bought a new position in Saratoga Investment during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $116,000. Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Saratoga Investment by 12.2% in the second quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 9,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Saratoga Investment by 8.4% during the second quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 9,885 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 770 shares during the last quarter. PVG Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in Saratoga Investment during the third quarter worth $236,000. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in Saratoga Investment by 8.2% during the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 22,224 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $505,000 after buying an additional 1,677 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.09% of the company’s stock.

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.