Saga Communications, Inc. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.25 (NASDAQ:SGA)

Key Points

• Saga Communications, Inc. has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, payable on August 19th to shareholders recorded by August 26th, offering an annualized yield of 7.7%.
• The company's dividend payout ratio is currently 135.1%, indicating reliance on its balance sheet for dividend payments, with a projected future payout ratio of 208.3%.
• Saga Communications reported $0.18 earnings per share last quarter, below the expected $0.19, alongside a revenue of $28.23 million, which also missed analyst expectations.

Saga Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGA - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, August 14th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be given a dividend of 0.25 per share on Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 7.7%.

Saga Communications has a dividend payout ratio of 135.1% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities research analysts expect Saga Communications to earn $0.48 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 208.3%.

Saga Communications Price Performance

Shares of SGA opened at $12.96 on Thursday. Saga Communications has a 1 year low of $10.75 and a 1 year high of $15.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.76 and a quick ratio of 2.72. The company has a market capitalization of $83.46 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.27 and a beta of 0.32. The business has a 50-day moving average of $12.89 and a 200-day moving average of $12.28.

Saga Communications (NASDAQ:SGA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.01). Saga Communications had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 1.27%. The company had revenue of $28.23 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $28.55 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Saga Communications will post 0.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Saga Communications

In related news, major shareholder Edward K. Christian Trust sold 9,583 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.72, for a total transaction of $121,895.76. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 927,125 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,793,030. This trade represents a 1.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold 43,270 shares of company stock worth $567,682 in the last ninety days. 22.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Saga Communications by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 78,053 shares of the company's stock worth $861,000 after acquiring an additional 847 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Saga Communications by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,874 shares of the company's stock worth $153,000 after acquiring an additional 1,306 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Saga Communications by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 30,406 shares of the company's stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 1,769 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Saga Communications by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 354,831 shares of the company's stock worth $3,914,000 after acquiring an additional 1,770 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Saga Communications by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 58,432 shares of the company's stock worth $645,000 after acquiring an additional 4,753 shares during the last quarter. 74.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Saga Communications

Saga Communications, Inc, a media company, engages in acquiring, developing, and operating broadcast properties in the United States. The company's radio stations employ various programming formats, including classic hits, country, classic country, hot/soft/urban adult contemporary, oldies, classic rock, rock, and news/talk.

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