Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.03 EPS

Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR - Get Free Report) released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The financial services provider reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.69 by ($0.03), Zacks reports. Saratoga Investment had a return on equity of 12.71% and a net margin of 24.85%. The company had revenue of $35,219.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.75 million.

Saratoga Investment Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SAR traded up $0.11 during trading on Friday, hitting $24.82. 137,912 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 95,883. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $24.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Saratoga Investment has a 52-week low of $21.10 and a 52-week high of $26.49. The company has a market cap of $388.87 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.05 and a beta of 0.67.

Saratoga Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.03%. Saratoga Investment's payout ratio is 121.46%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Saratoga Investment

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Saratoga Investment stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in Saratoga Investment Corp (NYSE:SAR - Free Report) by 4.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,476 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,018 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 0.15% of Saratoga Investment worth $595,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Institutional investors own 19.09% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SAR. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Saratoga Investment from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. B. Riley assumed coverage on Saratoga Investment in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $23.50 target price for the company. Finally, Compass Point lowered Saratoga Investment from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $25.25 to $24.25 in a report on Monday, June 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Saratoga Investment presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $24.25.

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.