Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) Stock Crosses Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average - What's Next?

Saratoga Investment Corp (NYSE:SAR - Get Free Report)'s stock price crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $24.51 and traded as high as $25.58. Saratoga Investment shares last traded at $25.12, with a volume of 131,583 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SAR has been the subject of a number of research reports. B. Riley initiated coverage on shares of Saratoga Investment in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $23.50 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Saratoga Investment from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Compass Point cut Saratoga Investment from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $25.25 to $24.25 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $24.25.

Saratoga Investment Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $393.63 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.17 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $24.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.51.

Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.69 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $35,219.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.75 million. Saratoga Investment had a return on equity of 12.71% and a net margin of 24.85%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Saratoga Investment Corp will post 3.93 EPS for the current year.

Saratoga Investment Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 8th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 8th. Saratoga Investment's dividend payout ratio is 121.46%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Saratoga Investment during the first quarter valued at about $398,000. Northern Trust Corp acquired a new position in Saratoga Investment in the fourth quarter worth about $271,000. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new position in Saratoga Investment in the fourth quarter worth about $252,000. Mariner LLC acquired a new position in Saratoga Investment in the fourth quarter worth about $317,000. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Saratoga Investment by 33.4% in the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 193,168 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,893,000 after purchasing an additional 48,351 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.