Saratoga Investment Corp (NYSE:SAR) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Saratoga Investment Corp (NYSE:SAR) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the six research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $23.6250.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SAR shares. Zacks Research upgraded Saratoga Investment from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. B. Riley dropped their price objective on Saratoga Investment from $23.50 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Janney Montgomery Scott reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Saratoga Investment in a report on Friday, October 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Saratoga Investment in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Saratoga Investment to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lido Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Saratoga Investment by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 197,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,826,000 after acquiring an additional 11,620 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Saratoga Investment by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 158,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,861,000 after purchasing an additional 7,006 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Saratoga Investment by 9.8% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 115,641 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,820,000 after purchasing an additional 10,356 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Saratoga Investment by 1.1% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 94,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,352,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Saratoga Investment by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 71,549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,746,000 after acquiring an additional 4,650 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.09% of the company’s stock.

Saratoga Investment Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of SAR stock opened at $23.44 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $23.19 and a 200-day moving average of $23.62. The stock has a market cap of $379.26 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.61 and a beta of 0.56. Saratoga Investment has a 52-week low of $21.10 and a 52-week high of $26.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.25.

Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $23.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.35 million. Saratoga Investment had a net margin of 30.61% and a return on equity of 9.19%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Saratoga Investment will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Saratoga Investment Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 3rd. Saratoga Investment’s payout ratio is presently 122.95%.

About Saratoga Investment

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.