Brokerages Set Saratoga Investment Corp (NYSE:SAR) Price Target at $24.25

Shares of Saratoga Investment Corp (NYSE:SAR) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the five brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $24.25.

Several research firms recently commented on SAR. Compass Point cut shares of Saratoga Investment from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $25.25 to $24.25 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Saratoga Investment in a research note on Saturday, September 27th.

Institutional Trading of Saratoga Investment

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SAR. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Saratoga Investment by 300.0% during the first quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Saratoga Investment by 2,380.1% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $148,000 after buying an additional 5,736 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Saratoga Investment by 24.0% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 6,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $155,000 after buying an additional 1,211 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Saratoga Investment by 36.4% in the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 6,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $176,000 after acquiring an additional 1,850 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Saratoga Investment in the second quarter valued at about $242,000. 19.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Saratoga Investment Price Performance

NYSE SAR opened at $24.46 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.53. Saratoga Investment has a 52-week low of $21.10 and a 52-week high of $26.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $390.15 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.90 and a beta of 0.66.

Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by ($0.03). Saratoga Investment had a net margin of 24.85% and a return on equity of 12.71%. The company had revenue of $35.22 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.75 million. Analysts anticipate that Saratoga Investment will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Saratoga Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 2nd. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 12.3%. Saratoga Investment’s payout ratio is presently 121.46%.

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.