Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR) Short Interest Update

Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 129,000 shares, a drop of 14.6% from the January 31st total of 151,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 114,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.1 days.

Saratoga Investment Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE SAR opened at $25.24 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $362.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.18 and a beta of 1.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $24.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.29. Saratoga Investment has a 52 week low of $21.56 and a 52 week high of $26.49.

Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.08. Saratoga Investment had a net margin of 22.01% and a return on equity of 15.53%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Saratoga Investment will post 3.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Saratoga Investment Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.89%. This is an increase from Saratoga Investment’s previous monthly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. Saratoga Investment’s payout ratio is presently 119.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SAR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Compass Point dropped their target price on shares of Saratoga Investment from $26.25 to $25.25 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Saratoga Investment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.08.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Saratoga Investment

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Saratoga Investment in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. purchased a new stake in Saratoga Investment in the third quarter valued at approximately $116,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in Saratoga Investment in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $212,000. PVG Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in Saratoga Investment during the third quarter worth approximately $236,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in Saratoga Investment during the fourth quarter worth approximately $252,000. 19.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.