Short Interest in Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR) Drops By 21.7%

Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 138,900 shares, a drop of 21.7% from the November 30th total of 177,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 88,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on SAR shares. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered Saratoga Investment from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price 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. Compass Point lifted their price objective on shares of Saratoga Investment from $24.75 to $26.25 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, B. Riley reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Saratoga Investment in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.42.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Saratoga Investment

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Saratoga Investment by 8.4% in the 2nd 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 during the period. Next Level Private LLC lifted its stake in Saratoga Investment by 3.4% in the second quarter. Next Level Private LLC now owns 32,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $739,000 after buying an additional 1,059 shares in the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Saratoga Investment by 12.2% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in Saratoga Investment by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 22,224 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $505,000 after buying an additional 1,677 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,417 shares in the last quarter. 19.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Saratoga Investment Stock Performance

NYSE SAR opened at $23.86 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.22 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.60. Saratoga Investment has a 1-year low of $21.56 and a 1-year high of $26.49. The company has a market cap of $329.29 million, a PE ratio of 15.59 and a beta of 1.33.

Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.39. Saratoga Investment had a return on equity of 15.88% and a net margin of 13.64%. The firm had revenue of $43.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.84 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Saratoga Investment will post 3.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Saratoga Investment Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a None dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 4th were given a dividend of $1.09 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a dividend yield of 11.9%. Saratoga Investment’s dividend payout ratio is currently 193.46%.

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.