Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) Share Price Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average - Should You Sell?

Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR - Get Free Report) passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $23.62 and traded as high as $23.89. Saratoga Investment shares last traded at $23.68, with a volume of 44,526 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on SAR shares. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Saratoga Investment from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. B. Riley reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Saratoga Investment in a report on Thursday, October 10th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH downgraded Saratoga Investment from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Compass Point upped their price objective on Saratoga Investment from $24.75 to $26.25 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Four equities 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $25.42.

Saratoga Investment Trading Up 1.1 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market cap of $330.26 million, a PE ratio of 15.64 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $24.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.61.

Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $43.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.84 million. Saratoga Investment had a return on equity of 15.88% and a net margin of 13.64%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Saratoga Investment Corp. will post 3.93 EPS for the current year.

Saratoga Investment Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a None dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th were issued a dividend of $1.09 per share. This represents a yield of 11.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 4th. Saratoga Investment's payout ratio is presently 193.46%.

Institutional Trading of Saratoga Investment

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Saratoga Investment in the 2nd quarter worth about $108,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $505,000 after purchasing an additional 1,677 shares in the last quarter. Next Level Private LLC lifted its position in Saratoga Investment by 3.4% during the second quarter. Next Level Private LLC now owns 32,535 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $739,000 after purchasing an additional 1,059 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in Saratoga Investment by 2.7% in 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. Finally, Wedbush Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Saratoga Investment by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 9,900 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 1,075 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 19.09% of the company's stock.

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.