Saratoga Investment (SAR) Competitors

Central Securities (NYSE:CET) and Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their community ranking, profitability, media sentiment, institutional ownership, earnings, risk, valuation, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, CET or SAR?

Saratoga Investment has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Central Securities.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Central Securities	$296.20M	4.45	N/A	N/A	N/A
Saratoga Investment	$46.93M	7.68	$8.93M	$2.48	10.14

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer CET or SAR?

Saratoga Investment received 269 more outperform votes than Central Securities when rated by MarketBeat users.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Central Securities	N/A	N/A
Saratoga Investment	Outperform Votes 269 57.85%	Underperform Votes 196 42.15%

Do analysts rate CET or SAR?

Saratoga Investment has a consensus price target of $25.08, suggesting a potential downside of 0.23%. Given Saratoga Investment's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Saratoga Investment is more favorable than Central Securities.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Central Securities	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00
Saratoga Investment	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.25

Is CET or SAR a better dividend stock?

Central Securities pays an annual dividend of $2.25 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.9%. Saratoga Investment pays an annual dividend of $3.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.9%. Saratoga Investment pays out 121.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in CET or SAR?

8.7% of Central Securities shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 19.1% of Saratoga Investment shares are held by institutional investors. 9.5% of Central Securities shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 12.0% of Saratoga Investment shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media favor CET or SAR?

In the previous week, Central Securities and Central Securities both had 1 articles in the media. Central Securities' average media sentiment score of 1.62 beat Saratoga Investment's score of 0.37 indicating that Central Securities is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Central Securities	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Saratoga Investment	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is CET or SAR more profitable?

Saratoga Investment has a net margin of 22.01% compared to Central Securities' net margin of 0.00%. Saratoga Investment's return on equity of 15.53% beat Central Securities' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Central Securities	N/A	N/A	N/A
Saratoga Investment	22.01%	15.53%	4.80%

Which has more volatility & risk, CET or SAR?

Central Securities has a beta of 0.86, indicating that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Saratoga Investment has a beta of 1.31, indicating that its share price is 31% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Saratoga Investment beats Central Securities on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.