Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR) Short Interest Down 17.1% in October

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SAR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. B. Riley reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Saratoga Investment in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut shares of Saratoga Investment from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target 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. Finally, Compass Point raised their price target 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.42.

Saratoga Investment Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SAR traded up $0.21 during trading on Friday, reaching $25.26. The stock had a trading volume of 75,422 shares, compared to its average volume of 75,543. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $23.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market cap of $348.59 million, a PE ratio of 16.37 and a beta of 1.31. Saratoga Investment has a 1-year low of $21.56 and a 1-year high of $27.00.

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

Saratoga Investment Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Saratoga Investment by 2,268.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 112,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,603,000 after purchasing an additional 107,499 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in 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 worth $505,000 after buying an additional 1,677 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in Saratoga Investment by 7.9% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 11,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $264,000 after buying an additional 832 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in Saratoga Investment by 21.3% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 22,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $530,000 after buying an additional 4,016 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Saratoga Investment by 5.7% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 126,165 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,927,000 after buying an additional 6,837 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 19.09% of the company’s stock.

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.