Saratoga Investment (SAR) Competitors

Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) and Central Securities (NYSE:CET) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, community ranking, media sentiment, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk and profitability.

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, SAR or CET?

Saratoga Investment has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Central Securities.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Saratoga Investment	$42.10M	8.86	$8.93M	$2.04	11.90
Central Securities	$296.20M	4.65	N/A	N/A	N/A

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of SAR or CET?

19.1% of Saratoga Investment shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 8.7% of Central Securities shares are owned by institutional investors. 12.0% of Saratoga Investment shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 9.5% of Central Securities shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is SAR or CET a better dividend stock?

Saratoga Investment pays an annual dividend of $3.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 12.4%. Central Securities pays an annual dividend of $2.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.8%. Saratoga Investment pays out 147.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor SAR or CET?

Saratoga Investment received 269 more outperform votes than Central Securities when rated by MarketBeat users.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Saratoga Investment	Outperform Votes 269 57.36%	Underperform Votes 200 42.64%
Central Securities	N/A	N/A

Does the media prefer SAR or CET?

In the previous week, Saratoga Investment had 3 more articles in the media than Central Securities. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for Saratoga Investment and 2 mentions for Central Securities. Central Securities' average media sentiment score of 0.98 beat Saratoga Investment's score of -0.01 indicating that Central Securities is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Saratoga Investment	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Central Securities	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts recommend SAR or CET?

Saratoga Investment presently has a consensus price target of $24.25, indicating a potential downside of 0.08%. Given Saratoga Investment's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Saratoga Investment is more favorable than Central Securities.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Saratoga Investment	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Central Securities	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00

Which has more volatility & risk, SAR or CET?

Saratoga Investment has a beta of 0.68, suggesting that its stock price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Central Securities has a beta of 0.83, suggesting that its stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is SAR or CET more profitable?

Saratoga Investment has a net margin of 22.01% compared to Central Securities' net margin of 0.00%. Saratoga Investment's return on equity of 15.53% beat Central Securities' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Saratoga Investment	22.01%	15.53%	4.80%
Central Securities	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Saratoga Investment beats Central Securities on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.