Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR) Short Interest Up 16.5% in November

Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 177,400 shares, a growth of 16.5% from the November 15th total of 152,300 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 89,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.0 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Saratoga Investment Trading Down 0.8 %

SAR stock traded down $0.20 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $24.02. The company had a trading volume of 15,292 shares, compared to its average volume of 80,006. The firm has a market capitalization of $331.50 million, a P/E ratio of 15.81 and a beta of 1.33. Saratoga Investment has a 52-week low of $21.56 and a 52-week high of $26.49. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, research analysts forecast that Saratoga Investment will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Saratoga Investment Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a yield of 11.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 4th. Saratoga Investment’s dividend payout ratio is presently 193.46%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Saratoga Investment during the 2nd quarter worth about $108,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in Saratoga Investment by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 9,885 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 770 shares during the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its position in Saratoga Investment by 12.2% during the 2nd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 9,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 1,075 shares during the last quarter. PVG Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in Saratoga Investment during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $236,000. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in 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 worth $505,000 after buying an additional 1,677 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.