Zacks Research Upgrades Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) to Hold

Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Monday, Zacks reports.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on SAR. B. Riley Financial reduced their target price on Saratoga Investment from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings cut Saratoga Investment from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price target on Saratoga Investment from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.50.

Saratoga Investment Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:SAR opened at $17.44 on Monday. Saratoga Investment has a 52-week low of $17.34 and a 52-week high of $25.15. The company has a market capitalization of $280.37 million, a P/E ratio of 17.44 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a current ratio of 0.09.

Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $30.78 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.38 million. Saratoga Investment had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 12.70%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Saratoga Investment will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Saratoga Investment

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Saratoga Investment by 4.5% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 23,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $595,000 after purchasing an additional 1,018 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new stake in Saratoga Investment in the 2nd quarter valued at $355,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Saratoga Investment by 24.0% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 6,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $155,000 after purchasing an additional 1,211 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Saratoga Investment in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in Saratoga Investment by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 158,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,861,000 after buying an additional 7,006 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 19.09% of the company’s stock.

Saratoga Investment Company Profile

Saratoga Investment Corp. is a closed-end, externally managed investment company that seeks to generate current income and total return through a diversified portfolio of private U.S. companies. Trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SAR, the firm primarily targets middle-market businesses across a broad range of industries, including industrials, healthcare, consumer products, financial services and technology. Its investment approach combines debt and equity instruments, providing flexible capital solutions such as first-lien and second-lien secured loans, mezzanine debt, preferred equity and common equity positions.

As an actively managed vehicle, Saratoga Investment works closely with portfolio companies’ management teams to support growth initiatives, operational improvements, and strategic transactions.