Short Interest in Saga Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGA) Grows By 44.7%

Saga Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGA) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 13,850 shares, an increase of 44.7% from the February 26th total of 9,569 shares. Currently, 0.3% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 7,803 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SGA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Saga Communications in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research raised shares of Saga Communications from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce”.

Saga Communications Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of SGA stock traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $11.97. The company had a trading volume of 6,062 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,212. The company has a market capitalization of $77.09 million, a P/E ratio of -9.81 and a beta of -0.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a current ratio of 2.74. Saga Communications has a twelve month low of $10.68 and a twelve month high of $14.27. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $11.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.81.

Saga Communications (NASDAQ:SGA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $1.23. Saga Communications had a positive return on equity of 4.43% and a negative net margin of 7.37%.The firm had revenue of $26.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.70 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Saga Communications will post 0.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Saga Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 26th. Saga Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -81.97%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Edward K. Christian Trust sold 5,665 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.07, for a total transaction of $68,376.55. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 881,044 shares in the company, valued at $10,634,201.08. This represents a 0.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 22.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Saga Communications

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Saga Communications by 256.7% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 3,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 2,867 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Saga Communications in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $163,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Saga Communications by 30,720.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,000 after purchasing an additional 16,896 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Saga Communications by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 30,406 shares of the company’s stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 1,769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Saga Communications by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 59,371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $678,000 after buying an additional 1,923 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.28% of the company’s stock.

About Saga Communications

Saga Communications, Inc (NASDAQ: SGA) is an independent radio broadcasting company that owns and operates a portfolio of local radio stations across the United States. Headquartered in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, the company focuses on full‐service radio properties offering a variety of formats, including music, news‐talk and sports programming. In addition to traditional over‐the‐air broadcasts, Saga leverages web streaming and mobile platforms to broaden listener reach and provide advertisers with multimedia opportunities.

Founded in 1985 by Edward J.