Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR) Receives $24.94 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Hold" from the five research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $25.44.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Compass Point upgraded Saratoga Investment from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $24.75 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Saratoga Investment from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday. B. Riley reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of Saratoga Investment in a report on Thursday. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut Saratoga Investment from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday.

Saratoga Investment Price Performance

Saratoga Investment stock traded down $0.90 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $23.94. 109,280 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 77,788. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $23.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.07 and a current ratio of 0.07. Saratoga Investment has a 1 year low of $21.56 and a 1 year high of $27.00. The company has a market capitalization of $329.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.69 and a beta of 1.32.

Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 9th. The financial services provider reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.08. Saratoga Investment had a net margin of 10.66% and a return on equity of 14.67%. The firm had revenue of $38.68 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.52 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Saratoga Investment will post 3.6 EPS for the current year.

Saratoga Investment Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th were paid a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 11th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.36%. Saratoga Investment's dividend payout ratio is currently 244.63%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Saratoga Investment

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in Saratoga Investment by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 129,550 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,941,000 after buying an additional 3,417 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Saratoga Investment by 5.7% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 126,165 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,927,000 after purchasing an additional 6,837 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Saratoga Investment by 1.7% during the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 125,373 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,909,000 after acquiring an additional 2,154 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Saratoga Investment by 80.3% in the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 100,385 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,595,000 after acquiring an additional 44,722 shares during the period. Finally, Next Level Private LLC raised its position in shares of Saratoga Investment by 20.3% in the 3rd quarter. Next Level Private LLC now owns 39,154 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $908,000 after acquiring an additional 6,619 shares in the last quarter. 19.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.