Brokerages Set Saratoga Investment Corp (NYSE:SAR) Target Price at $21.50

Shares of Saratoga Investment Corp (NYSE:SAR) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” by the six brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and five have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $21.50.

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Saratoga Investment from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Saratoga Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Saratoga Investment from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. B. Riley Financial dropped their price objective on Saratoga Investment from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Saratoga Investment from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Saratoga Investment

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Saratoga Investment by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 23,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $595,000 after purchasing an additional 1,018 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new stake in Saratoga Investment during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $355,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Saratoga Investment by 24.0% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 6,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $155,000 after buying an additional 1,211 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Saratoga Investment in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Saratoga Investment by 4.6% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 158,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,861,000 after buying an additional 7,006 shares during the period. 19.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Saratoga Investment Price Performance

Saratoga Investment stock opened at $18.27 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $293.78 million, a P/E ratio of 18.27 and a beta of 0.55. Saratoga Investment has a 1 year low of $17.34 and a 1 year high of $25.64. The business has a 50-day moving average of $19.76 and a 200-day moving average of $21.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.07). Saratoga Investment had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 8.76%. The company had revenue of $30.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.38 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Saratoga Investment will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

Saratoga Investment Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 3rd. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 16.4%. Saratoga Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 300.00%.

About Saratoga Investment

Saratoga Investment Corp. is a closed-end, externally managed investment company that seeks to generate current income and total return through a diversified portfolio of private U.S. companies. Trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SAR, the firm primarily targets middle-market businesses across a broad range of industries, including industrials, healthcare, consumer products, financial services and technology. Its investment approach combines debt and equity instruments, providing flexible capital solutions such as first-lien and second-lien secured loans, mezzanine debt, preferred equity and common equity positions.

As an actively managed vehicle, Saratoga Investment works closely with portfolio companies’ management teams to support growth initiatives, operational improvements, and strategic transactions.