Saratoga Investment Corp (NYSE:SAR) Receives $23.63 Consensus PT from Analysts

Saratoga Investment Corp (NYSE:SAR) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $23.6250.

SAR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Saratoga Investment from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. B. Riley Financial lowered their price target on shares of Saratoga Investment from $23.50 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Saratoga Investment in a research report on Monday, December 29th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SAR. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new stake in shares of Saratoga Investment during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Saratoga Investment during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in Saratoga Investment during the third quarter worth approximately $45,000. Daytona Street Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Saratoga Investment during the fourth quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Saratoga Investment by 2,380.1% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $148,000 after acquiring an additional 5,736 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.09% of the company’s stock.

Saratoga Investment Stock Performance

Shares of SAR stock opened at $23.47 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $23.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market cap of $379.66 million, a PE ratio of 9.62 and a beta of 0.56. Saratoga Investment has a 1 year low of $21.10 and a 1 year high of $26.17.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $23.41 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.35 million. Saratoga Investment had a return on equity of 9.19% and a net margin of 30.61%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Saratoga Investment will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Saratoga Investment Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 3rd. Saratoga Investment’s payout ratio is 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.