Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Buys Shares of 62,545 Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 62,545 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,450,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC owned approximately 0.45% of Saratoga Investment at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Saratoga Investment by 2,268.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 112,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,603,000 after purchasing an additional 107,499 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Saratoga Investment by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 22,224 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $505,000 after buying an additional 1,677 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Saratoga Investment by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 9,885 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 770 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in Saratoga Investment by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 129,550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,941,000 after acquiring an additional 3,417 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedbush Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Saratoga Investment by 12.2% during the 2nd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 9,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $225,000 after acquiring an additional 1,075 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SAR has been the topic of several recent research reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded shares of Saratoga Investment from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Compass Point upped their target price on Saratoga Investment from $24.75 to $26.25 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Saratoga Investment from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, B. Riley restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of Saratoga Investment in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.42.

Saratoga Investment Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE SAR opened at $24.26 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $334.79 million, a P/E ratio of 15.86 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.22. Saratoga Investment Corp. has a 1 year low of $21.56 and a 1 year high of $26.49. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $24.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.61.

Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $43.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.84 million. Saratoga Investment had a return on equity of 15.88% and a net margin of 13.64%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Saratoga Investment Corp. will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Saratoga Investment Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a None dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be issued a $1.09 dividend. This represents a yield of 11.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 4th. Saratoga Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 193.47%.

About Saratoga Investment

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.