Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) Stock Rating Upgraded by Compass Point

Compass Point upgraded shares of Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $24.75 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. B. Riley reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Saratoga Investment in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com raised shares of Saratoga Investment from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Saratoga Investment from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $24.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $24.94.

Saratoga Investment Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SAR opened at $23.24 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.07 and a current ratio of 0.07. The company has a market capitalization of $319.46 million, a PE ratio of 19.21 and a beta of 1.31. Saratoga Investment has a 1 year low of $22.35 and a 1 year high of $27.68. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $23.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.42.

Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.96 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $37.23 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.59 million. Saratoga Investment had a net margin of 10.66% and a return on equity of 14.67%. On average, research analysts predict that Saratoga Investment will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Saratoga Investment Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 13th were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This is a boost from Saratoga Investment’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 13th. Saratoga Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 244.63%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Saratoga Investment

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Saratoga Investment by 5.7% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 126,165 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,927,000 after purchasing an additional 6,837 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of Saratoga Investment by 14.3% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 126,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,926,000 after acquiring an additional 15,782 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Saratoga Investment by 1.7% during the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 125,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,909,000 after acquiring an additional 2,154 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd increased its position in shares of Saratoga Investment by 80.3% during the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 100,385 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,595,000 after acquiring an additional 44,722 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased 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 valued at $2,225,000 after acquiring an additional 82,860 shares during the last quarter. 19.09% of the stock is currently 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.