Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR) Stock Position Decreased by Private Advisor Group LLC

Private Advisor Group LLC decreased its position in Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 122,295 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,326 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC owned about 0.85% of Saratoga Investment worth $2,925,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Saratoga Investment by 4.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 6,632 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Saratoga Investment by 2,268.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 112,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,603,000 after purchasing an additional 107,499 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new stake in Saratoga Investment in the third quarter worth $1,450,000. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC increased its position 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. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its holdings in Saratoga Investment by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 29,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $716,000 after buying an additional 2,929 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Saratoga Investment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, January 26th. Compass Point reduced their target price on shares of Saratoga Investment from $26.25 to $25.25 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.08.

Saratoga Investment Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of SAR stock opened at $25.77 on Tuesday. Saratoga Investment Corp. has a 52-week low of $21.56 and a 52-week high of $26.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market cap of $369.62 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.39 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $24.70 and a 200-day moving average of $24.17.

Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.08. Saratoga Investment had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 22.01%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Saratoga Investment Corp. will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Saratoga Investment Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This is a positive change from Saratoga Investment’s previous monthly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.64%. Saratoga Investment’s payout ratio is 119.35%.

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.