Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) Upgraded by Compass Point to “Buy”

Compass Point upgraded shares of Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $24.75 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on SAR. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Saratoga Investment from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $23.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Saratoga Investment from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, B. Riley reiterated a neutral rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of Saratoga Investment in a report on Thursday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $24.94.

Saratoga Investment Stock Performance

Shares of SAR stock opened at $23.60 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a market cap of $324.50 million, a PE ratio of 19.50 and a beta of 1.31. Saratoga Investment has a 12 month low of $22.35 and a 12 month high of $27.68.

Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $37.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.59 million. Saratoga Investment had a return on equity of 14.67% and a net margin of 10.66%. Equities research analysts expect that Saratoga Investment will post 3.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Saratoga Investment Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 13th were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This is a boost from Saratoga Investment’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 13th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.54%. Saratoga Investment’s dividend payout ratio is currently 244.63%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Saratoga Investment

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SAR. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Saratoga Investment by 2,604.0% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 86,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,225,000 after purchasing an additional 82,860 shares during the period. TMD Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Saratoga Investment in the fourth quarter worth about $1,520,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd lifted its holdings 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 last quarter. Significant Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Saratoga Investment in the fourth quarter worth about $1,023,000. Finally, Alpine Global Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Saratoga Investment in the first quarter worth about $726,000. 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.