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

Shares of Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $26.75.

Several research analysts have issued reports on SAR shares. B. Riley lowered Saratoga Investment from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $28.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Compass Point downgraded shares of Saratoga Investment from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $24.75 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Saratoga Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th.

Saratoga Investment Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:SAR opened at $22.72 on Friday. Saratoga Investment has a 1 year low of $22.35 and a 1 year high of $28.87. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $310.13 million, a PE ratio of 11.71 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.07 and a quick ratio of 0.07.

Saratoga Investment Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th were paid a $0.73 dividend. This is an increase from Saratoga Investment’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.85%. Saratoga Investment’s payout ratio is 150.52%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Saratoga Investment

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Advisory Research Inc. increased its position in shares of Saratoga Investment by 1.4% during the third quarter. Advisory Research Inc. now owns 35,721 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $742,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Saratoga Investment by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 9,664 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Saratoga Investment by 2.6% during the second quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 28,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $765,000 after purchasing an additional 722 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. increased its position in shares of Saratoga Investment by 6.9% during the third quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 11,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $300,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in shares of Saratoga Investment during the first quarter worth $27,000. 19.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Saratoga Investment Company Profile

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.