Saratoga Investment Corp (NYSE:SAR) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Saratoga Investment Corp (NYSE:SAR) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the five brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $23.00.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SAR shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Saratoga Investment in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered Saratoga Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th.

Saratoga Investment Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SAR opened at $22.48 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $365.67 million, a PE ratio of 9.65 and a beta of 0.55. The company’s fifty day moving average is $22.46 and its 200 day moving average is $22.81. Saratoga Investment has a 52 week low of $20.78 and a 52 week high of $25.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.53. Saratoga Investment had a net margin of 29.12% and a return on equity of 9.29%. The business had revenue of $6.85 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.85 million. Research analysts anticipate that Saratoga Investment will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Saratoga Investment Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 3rd. Saratoga Investment’s dividend payout ratio is 128.76%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SAR. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new stake in Saratoga Investment during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Saratoga Investment in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in shares of Saratoga Investment in the third quarter valued at about $45,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Saratoga Investment during the fourth quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, Daytona Street Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Saratoga Investment during the fourth quarter valued at about $51,000. 19.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Saratoga Investment

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.