Cerity Partners LLC Invests $431,000 in Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR)

Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 16,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $431,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SAR. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Saratoga Investment by 2,604.0% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 86,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,225,000 after purchasing an additional 82,860 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Global Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Saratoga Investment in the third quarter valued at about $1,336,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Saratoga Investment by 240.1% in the third quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 55,663 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,429,000 after acquiring an additional 39,297 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new stake in shares of Saratoga Investment in the third quarter valued at about $775,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Saratoga Investment by 38.7% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 82,324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,116,000 after acquiring an additional 22,950 shares in the last quarter. 19.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on SAR. B. Riley downgraded Saratoga Investment from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $28.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, January 8th. StockNews.com upgraded Saratoga Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Compass Point downgraded Saratoga Investment from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $24.75 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.69.

Saratoga Investment Stock Performance

Shares of Saratoga Investment stock opened at $23.31 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $318.18 million, a PE ratio of 11.96 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.07 and a current ratio of 0.07. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.10. Saratoga Investment Corp. has a one year low of $22.35 and a one year high of $28.87.

Saratoga Investment Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were issued a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. This is an increase from Saratoga Investment’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.53%. Saratoga Investment’s payout ratio is currently 150.52%.

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.