Saratoga Investment Corp (NYSE:SAR) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Saratoga Investment Corp (NYSE:SAR) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the five research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $23.00.

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Saratoga Investment in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Saratoga Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th.

Institutional Trading of Saratoga Investment

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SAR. Closed End Fund Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Saratoga Investment in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,680,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Saratoga Investment by 2,243.4% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 25,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $547,000 after buying an additional 23,959 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Saratoga Investment by 33.3% in the first quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 82,407 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,762,000 after buying an additional 20,598 shares in the last quarter. Greenwood Gearhart LLC acquired a new stake in Saratoga Investment in the first quarter valued at approximately $389,000. Finally, Brevan Howard Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Saratoga Investment in the third quarter valued at approximately $431,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.09% of the company’s stock.

Saratoga Investment Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:SAR opened at $22.42 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $22.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.04 and a quick ratio of 0.04. Saratoga Investment has a one year low of $20.78 and a one year high of $25.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $364.69 million, a PE ratio of 9.62 and a beta of 0.54.

Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.53. The firm had revenue of $6.85 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.85 million. Saratoga Investment had a net margin of 29.12% and a return on equity of 9.29%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Saratoga Investment will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Saratoga Investment Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. Saratoga Investment’s dividend payout ratio is presently 128.76%.

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.