Short Interest in Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR) Drops By 17.1%

Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 132,200 shares, a decline of 17.1% from the October 15th total of 159,500 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 64,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SAR. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Saratoga Investment during the 2nd quarter worth $108,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Saratoga Investment by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 9,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 832 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Saratoga Investment by 8.2% during 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on SAR. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lowered shares of Saratoga Investment from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Saratoga Investment from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. B. Riley reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Saratoga Investment in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Compass Point upped their price objective on Saratoga Investment from $24.75 to $26.25 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.42.

Saratoga Investment Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Saratoga Investment stock traded up $0.21 on Friday, reaching $25.26. 75,424 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 75,543. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $23.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.40. The company has a market cap of $348.59 million, a P/E ratio of 16.51 and a beta of 1.31. Saratoga Investment has a 1-year low of $21.56 and a 1-year high of $27.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.22 and a quick ratio of 0.22.

Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $43.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.84 million. Saratoga Investment had a net margin of 13.64% and a return on equity of 15.88%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Saratoga Investment will post 3.93 EPS for the current year.

Saratoga Investment Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a None dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be issued a $1.09 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 11.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 4th. Saratoga Investment’s payout ratio is currently 193.47%.

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.