Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Wednesday.

Separately, Oppenheimer cut shares of Saratoga Investment from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Saratoga Investment currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $25.69.

Saratoga Investment Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Saratoga Investment stock traded up $0.03 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $23.46. The stock had a trading volume of 49,452 shares, compared to its average volume of 87,627. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.07 and a quick ratio of 0.07. Saratoga Investment has a 12 month low of $22.35 and a 12 month high of $28.87. The stock has a market cap of $321.40 million, a PE ratio of 33.04 and a beta of 1.28. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $23.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.08.

Saratoga Investment Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were issued a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. This is an increase from Saratoga Investment's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Saratoga Investment's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 411.27%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Saratoga Investment

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Saratoga Investment by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 9,664 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $250,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in Saratoga Investment by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 11,655 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $300,000 after buying an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in Saratoga Investment by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 11,393 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 832 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in shares of Saratoga Investment by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 24,191 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $626,000 after acquiring an additional 1,024 shares during the last quarter. Finally, C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Saratoga Investment during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. 19.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.