Saratoga Investment’s (SAR) Neutral Rating Reiterated at B. Riley

B. Riley reiterated their neutral rating on shares of Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) in a report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $25.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock. B. Riley also issued estimates for Saratoga Investment’s Q4 2025 earnings at $0.69 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $0.86 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $0.84 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $0.81 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $0.62 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $3.12 EPS.

SAR has been the subject of several other research reports. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Saratoga Investment from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $23.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Saratoga Investment from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $24.94.

Saratoga Investment Stock Down 1.4 %

Saratoga Investment stock opened at $23.24 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $319.46 million, a PE ratio of 19.21 and a beta of 1.31. The company’s 50-day moving average is $23.31 and its 200-day moving average is $23.42. Saratoga Investment has a fifty-two week low of $22.35 and a fifty-two week high of $27.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.07 and a quick ratio of 0.07.

Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.96 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $37.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.59 million. Saratoga Investment had a return on equity of 14.67% and a net margin of 10.66%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Saratoga Investment will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Saratoga Investment Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 13th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 13th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.74%. This is an increase from Saratoga Investment’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. Saratoga Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 244.63%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Saratoga Investment

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of SAR. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Saratoga Investment by 2,604.0% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 86,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,225,000 after buying an additional 82,860 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in Saratoga Investment during the fourth quarter worth $431,000. Significant Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Saratoga Investment during the fourth quarter worth $1,023,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Saratoga Investment by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 9,664 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the period. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in Saratoga Investment by 34.0% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 110,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,854,000 after purchasing an additional 28,027 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 19.09% of the company’s stock.

About Saratoga Investment

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.