HighTower Advisors LLC Acquires New Holdings in Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR)

HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 11,124 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $266,000. HighTower Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Saratoga Investment at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SAR. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Saratoga Investment during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,450,000. PVG Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Saratoga Investment during the third quarter worth approximately $236,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. bought a new stake in shares of Saratoga Investment in the third quarter worth $116,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Saratoga Investment by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 144,817 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,464,000 after acquiring an additional 6,632 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC boosted its stake in Saratoga Investment by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 32,845 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $786,000 after acquiring an additional 911 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 19.09% of the company's stock.

Saratoga Investment Stock Performance

Shares of Saratoga Investment stock traded down $0.96 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $22.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 219,590 shares, compared to its average volume of 84,469. Saratoga Investment Corp. has a one year low of $21.56 and a one year high of $26.49. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $24.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market cap of $320.27 million, a P/E ratio of 9.00 and a beta of 0.94.

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Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.08. Saratoga Investment had a net margin of 22.01% and a return on equity of 15.53%. As a group, analysts expect that Saratoga Investment Corp. will post 3.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Saratoga Investment Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.44%. This is a positive change from Saratoga Investment's previous monthly dividend of $0.25. Saratoga Investment's payout ratio is currently 120.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SAR shares. Compass Point cut their target price on shares of Saratoga Investment from $26.25 to $25.25 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com cut Saratoga Investment from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $25.08.

Saratoga Investment Company Profile

Saratoga Investment Corp. is a business development company specializing in leveraged and management buyouts, acquisition financings, growth financings, recapitalization, debt refinancing, and transitional financing transactions at the lower end of middle market companies. It structures its investments as debt and equity by investing through first and second lien loans, mezzanine debt, co-investments, select high yield bonds, senior secured bonds, unsecured bonds, and preferred and common equity.