Advisors Asset Management Inc. Has $2.57 Million Position in Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 107,401 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,972 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Saratoga Investment were worth $2,569,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SAR. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Saratoga Investment during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,450,000. PVG Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Saratoga Investment during the 3rd quarter valued at $236,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. acquired a new position in Saratoga Investment during the third quarter worth $116,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Saratoga Investment by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 144,817 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,464,000 after buying an additional 6,632 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its holdings in Saratoga Investment by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 32,845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $786,000 after buying an additional 911 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Saratoga Investment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, January 26th. Compass Point lowered their price objective on shares of Saratoga Investment from $26.25 to $25.25 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Saratoga Investment currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.08.

Saratoga Investment Stock Performance

Shares of SAR stock opened at $24.39 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $24.91 and a 200-day moving average of $24.37. The company has a market cap of $349.83 million, a P/E ratio of 9.83 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.33 and a quick ratio of 0.33. Saratoga Investment Corp. has a one year low of $21.56 and a one year high of $26.49.

Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 forecast that Saratoga Investment Corp. will post 3.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Saratoga Investment Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.30%. This is an increase from Saratoga Investment’s previous monthly dividend of $0.25. Saratoga Investment’s dividend payout ratio is currently 120.97%.

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.