Saratoga Investment Corp (NYSE:SAR) – Equities researchers at B. Riley dropped their FY2020 earnings estimates for Saratoga Investment in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, January 13th, according to Zacks Investment Research. B. Riley analyst T. Hayes now forecasts that the financial services provider will post earnings of $2.42 per share for the year, down from their previous estimate of $2.48. B. Riley has a “Buy” rating and a $26.00 price objective on the stock. B. Riley also issued estimates for Saratoga Investment’s FY2022 earnings at $2.62 EPS.
Several other analysts also recently commented on SAR. ValuEngine downgraded Saratoga Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Compass Point raised Saratoga Investment from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $27.75 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. National Securities initiated coverage on Saratoga Investment in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $26.00 price objective for the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Saratoga Investment from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Aegis reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Saratoga Investment in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Saratoga Investment presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.68.
Shares of Saratoga Investment stock traded down $0.06 on Thursday, hitting $27.18. The company had a trading volume of 63,201 shares, compared to its average volume of 123,177. The stock has a market capitalization of $303.87 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.31 and a beta of 0.66. Saratoga Investment has a 1 year low of $22.07 and a 1 year high of $28.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $26.29 and a 200-day moving average of $25.29.
Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 9th. The financial services provider reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $14.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.17 million. Saratoga Investment had a return on equity of 9.77% and a net margin of 68.38%.
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 6th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were given a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 23rd. Saratoga Investment’s payout ratio is 85.17%.
In other Saratoga Investment news, insider (Tony) Kiernan Anthony purchased 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $3.07 per share, with a total value of $61,360.00. Company insiders own 20.90% of the company’s stock.
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Saratoga Investment by 54.9% during the second quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,000 after acquiring an additional 1,372 shares during the last quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Saratoga Investment during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. PFG Advisors increased its position in shares of Saratoga Investment by 1.5% during the third quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 37,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $920,000 after acquiring an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. BB&T Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Saratoga Investment by 59.9% during the third quarter. BB&T Securities LLC now owns 18,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $449,000 after acquiring an additional 6,807 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Saratoga Investment during the third quarter valued at approximately $326,000. 17.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
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.