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

Compass Point lowered shares of Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR - Free Report) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report released on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $24.25 target price on the financial services provider's stock, down from their prior target price of $25.25.

SAR has been the topic of several other reports. B. Riley started coverage on shares of Saratoga Investment in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $23.50 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Saratoga Investment from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat, Saratoga Investment currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $24.25.

Saratoga Investment Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of SAR stock traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $24.27. The company had a trading volume of 50,161 shares, compared to its average volume of 93,645. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.44. Saratoga Investment has a 12 month low of $21.10 and a 12 month high of $26.49. The company has a market cap of $372.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.79 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.33 and a quick ratio of 0.33.

Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.86 million. On average, research analysts expect that Saratoga Investment will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Saratoga Investment Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a yield of 12.31%. Saratoga Investment's payout ratio is currently 147.06%.

Institutional Trading of Saratoga Investment

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SAR. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Saratoga Investment during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC increased its position in 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 worth $51,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Saratoga Investment by 35.8% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,789 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $162,000 after buying an additional 1,789 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Saratoga Investment by 36.4% in the first quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 6,932 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $176,000 after buying an additional 1,850 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in shares of Saratoga Investment during the 4th quarter valued at $212,000. Institutional investors own 19.09% of the company's stock.

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.