Saratoga Investment (SAR) Competitors

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

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in GSBD or SAR?

28.7% of Goldman Sachs BDC shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 19.1% of Saratoga Investment shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Goldman Sachs BDC shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 12.0% of Saratoga Investment shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor GSBD or SAR?

Goldman Sachs BDC received 5 more outperform votes than Saratoga Investment when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 57.73% of users gave Saratoga Investment an outperform vote while only 55.24% of users gave Goldman Sachs BDC an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Goldman Sachs BDC	Outperform Votes 274 55.24%	Underperform Votes 222 44.76%
Saratoga Investment	Outperform Votes 269 57.73%	Underperform Votes 197 42.27%

Does the media refer more to GSBD or SAR?

In the previous week, Goldman Sachs BDC had 4 more articles in the media than Saratoga Investment. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for Goldman Sachs BDC and 4 mentions for Saratoga Investment. Goldman Sachs BDC's average media sentiment score of 0.92 beat Saratoga Investment's score of 0.69 indicating that Goldman Sachs BDC is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Goldman Sachs BDC	4 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Saratoga Investment	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts recommend GSBD or SAR?

Goldman Sachs BDC currently has a consensus price target of $12.00, indicating a potential upside of 14.94%. Saratoga Investment has a consensus price target of $25.08, indicating a potential upside of 2.17%. Given Goldman Sachs BDC's higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Goldman Sachs BDC is more favorable than Saratoga Investment.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Goldman Sachs BDC	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.50
Saratoga Investment	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.25

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, GSBD or SAR?

Goldman Sachs BDC has higher revenue and earnings than Saratoga Investment. Saratoga Investment is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Goldman Sachs BDC, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Goldman Sachs BDC	$78.71M	15.56	$195.87M	$0.57	18.32
Saratoga Investment	$46.93M	7.50	$8.93M	$2.48	9.90

Is GSBD or SAR more profitable?

Saratoga Investment has a net margin of 22.01% compared to Goldman Sachs BDC's net margin of 17.01%. Goldman Sachs BDC's return on equity of 15.72% beat Saratoga Investment's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Goldman Sachs BDC	17.01%	15.72%	7.08%
Saratoga Investment	22.01%	15.53%	4.80%

Which has more volatility & risk, GSBD or SAR?

Goldman Sachs BDC has a beta of 0.87, suggesting that its stock price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Saratoga Investment has a beta of 0.94, suggesting that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is GSBD or SAR a better dividend stock?

Goldman Sachs BDC pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 12.3%. Saratoga Investment pays an annual dividend of $3.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 12.2%. Goldman Sachs BDC pays out 224.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Saratoga Investment pays out 121.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Summary

Goldman Sachs BDC beats Saratoga Investment on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.