Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) Shares Pass Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Saratoga Investment Corp (NYSE:SAR)’s share price passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $22.80 and traded as high as $22.92. Saratoga Investment shares last traded at $22.8010, with a volume of 145,668 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on SAR shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Saratoga Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Saratoga Investment in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.63.

Saratoga Investment Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $22.35 and a 200 day moving average of $22.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market capitalization of $364.77 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.62 and a beta of 0.54.

Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53. The company had revenue of $6.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.85 million. Saratoga Investment had a return on equity of 9.29% and a net margin of 29.12%. As a group, analysts predict that Saratoga Investment Corp will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Saratoga Investment Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Saratoga Investment

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Saratoga Investment by 2.2% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 22,301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $488,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Saratoga Investment by 3.2% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 17,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $393,000 after purchasing an additional 557 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new stake in Saratoga Investment in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in Saratoga Investment by 24.0% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 6,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $155,000 after purchasing an additional 1,211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lido Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Saratoga Investment by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 199,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,855,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265 shares in the last quarter. 19.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.