Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Saturday.

SAR has been the topic of a number of other reports. B. Riley reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of Saratoga Investment in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut Saratoga Investment from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Saratoga Investment from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Compass Point cut their target price on shares of Saratoga Investment from $26.25 to $25.25 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Saratoga Investment presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $25.08.

Saratoga Investment Stock Performance

Shares of Saratoga Investment stock opened at $24.88 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $357.06 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.03 and a beta of 1.33. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $24.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.33 and a quick ratio of 0.22. Saratoga Investment has a 12 month low of $21.56 and a 12 month high of $26.49.

Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.08. Saratoga Investment had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 22.01%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Saratoga Investment will post 3.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Saratoga Investment Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a None dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th were issued a $1.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a yield of 11.9%. Saratoga Investment's dividend payout ratio is currently 119.35%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Saratoga Investment

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in Saratoga Investment by 8.2% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 22,224 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $505,000 after acquiring an additional 1,677 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Saratoga Investment by 8.4% in the second quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 9,885 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 770 shares in the last quarter. Next Level Private LLC lifted its stake in 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. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Saratoga Investment by 2,268.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 112,238 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,603,000 after purchasing an additional 107,499 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Saratoga Investment by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 138,185 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,205,000 after buying an additional 17,379 shares during the period. 19.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Saratoga Investment

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.