Saga Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGA) Short Interest Update
by Teresa Graham · The Cerbat GemSaga Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGA – Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 11,511 shares, a decline of 16.9% from the March 15th total of 13,850 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 9,543 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.2 days. Approximately 0.2% of the company’s stock are sold short.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Saga Communications news, major shareholder Edward K. Christian Trust sold 5,665 shares of Saga Communications stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.07, for a total value of $68,376.55. Following the transaction, the insider owned 881,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,634,201.08. The trade was a 0.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 22.40% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Saga Communications by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $386,000 after acquiring an additional 1,850 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC bought a new position in Saga Communications during the 4th quarter worth approximately $163,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Saga Communications by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 59,371 shares of the company’s stock worth $678,000 after purchasing an additional 1,923 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Saga Communications by 30,720.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $211,000 after purchasing an additional 16,896 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Saga Communications by 256.7% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 3,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 2,867 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.28% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of research analysts have weighed in on SGA shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Saga Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Saga Communications from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce”.
Check Out Our Latest Report on SGA
Saga Communications Stock Performance
Shares of SGA stock traded up $0.13 on Thursday, hitting $11.93. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,220 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,006. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a current ratio of 2.74. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $11.61 and its 200-day moving average is $11.77. Saga Communications has a fifty-two week low of $10.68 and a fifty-two week high of $14.27. The company has a market capitalization of $76.83 million, a PE ratio of -9.78 and a beta of -0.03.
Saga Communications (NASDAQ:SGA – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $1.23. Saga Communications had a negative net margin of 7.37% and a positive return on equity of 4.43%. The business had revenue of $26.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.70 million. Equities research analysts expect that Saga Communications will post 0.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Saga Communications Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 26th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.4%. Saga Communications’s dividend payout ratio is currently -81.97%.
Saga Communications Company Profile
Saga Communications, Inc (NASDAQ: SGA) is an independent radio broadcasting company that owns and operates a portfolio of local radio stations across the United States. Headquartered in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, the company focuses on full‐service radio properties offering a variety of formats, including music, news‐talk and sports programming. In addition to traditional over‐the‐air broadcasts, Saga leverages web streaming and mobile platforms to broaden listener reach and provide advertisers with multimedia opportunities.
Founded in 1985 by Edward J.