Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR - Get Free Report) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 197,600 shares, a decline of 12.1% from the April 30th total of 224,900 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 109,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several research firms have recently weighed in on SAR. B. Riley assumed coverage on shares of Saratoga Investment in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $23.50 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded Saratoga Investment from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $24.58.
Check Out Our Latest Report on SAR
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Saratoga Investment in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Saratoga Investment by 300.0% in the first quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Saratoga Investment by 35.8% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,789 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $162,000 after purchasing an additional 1,789 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Saratoga Investment by 36.4% during the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 6,932 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $176,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in shares of Saratoga Investment during the 4th quarter worth approximately $212,000. 19.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Saratoga Investment Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE:SAR traded down $0.33 on Thursday, hitting $24.31. The company had a trading volume of 124,631 shares, compared to its average volume of 90,389. Saratoga Investment has a 1-year low of $21.10 and a 1-year high of $26.49. The stock has a market cap of $373.45 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.80 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $23.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.
Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.21). Saratoga Investment had a net margin of 22.01% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The company had revenue of $31.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.86 million. Analysts expect that Saratoga Investment will post 3.93 EPS for the current year.
Saratoga Investment Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a yield of 12.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 6th. Saratoga Investment's dividend payout ratio is 147.06%.
Saratoga Investment Company Profile
(
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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.
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