Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

by · The Markets Daily

Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR – Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 132,200 shares, a drop of 17.1% from the October 15th total of 159,500 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 64,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Saratoga Investment

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Saratoga Investment during the second quarter valued at approximately $108,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Saratoga Investment by 8.4% during the second quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 9,885 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $225,000 after buying an additional 770 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Saratoga Investment by 12.2% in the second quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 9,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $225,000 after acquiring an additional 1,075 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Saratoga Investment by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 11,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Saratoga Investment by 8.2% during 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. 19.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on SAR shares. B. Riley restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Saratoga Investment in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Compass Point lifted their price objective on Saratoga Investment from $24.75 to $26.25 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Saratoga Investment from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut shares of Saratoga Investment from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.42.

View Our Latest Report on Saratoga Investment

Saratoga Investment Stock Performance

NYSE SAR traded up $0.21 on Friday, reaching $25.26. 75,422 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 75,543. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.39. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $348.59 million, a PE ratio of 16.37 and a beta of 1.31. Saratoga Investment has a one year low of $21.56 and a one year high of $27.00.

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

Saratoga Investment Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a None dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be given a dividend of $1.09 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a yield of 11.9%. Saratoga Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 193.47%.

Saratoga Investment Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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