Saga Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGA) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Saga Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGA) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totaling 12,811 shares, an increase of 128.1% from the June 30th total of 5,617 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 11,041 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.2 days. Currently, 0.3% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Saga Communications by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 30,406 shares of the company’s stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 1,769 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Saga Communications by 256.7% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 3,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 2,867 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Saga Communications by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 59,371 shares of the company’s stock worth $678,000 after buying an additional 1,923 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Saga Communications by 30,720.0% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $211,000 after acquiring an additional 16,896 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Saga Communications during the fourth quarter worth $163,000. 74.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SGA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Noble Financial downgraded Saga Communications from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Saga Communications from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Saga Communications presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce”.

Saga Communications Price Performance

Shares of SGA stock traded down $0.19 on Wednesday, hitting $8.62. 5,111 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,438. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 2.81. Saga Communications has a 52 week low of $8.24 and a 52 week high of $13.51. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.56. The firm has a market cap of $54.82 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.39 and a beta of -0.10.

Saga Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.6%. Saga Communications’s dividend payout ratio is -74.07%.

Saga Communications Company Profile

Saga Communications, Inc (NASDAQ: SGA) is an independent radio broadcasting company that owns and operates a portfolio of local radio stations across the United States. Headquartered in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, the company focuses on full?service radio properties offering a variety of formats, including music, news?talk and sports programming. In addition to traditional over?the?air broadcasts, Saga leverages web streaming and mobile platforms to broaden listener reach and provide advertisers with multimedia opportunities.

Founded in 1985 by Edward J.