Short Interest in Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR) Expands By 16.5%

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Saratoga Investment

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SAR. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 770 shares in the last quarter. Next Level Private LLC increased its holdings in Saratoga Investment by 3.4% in the second quarter. Next Level Private LLC now owns 32,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $739,000 after buying an additional 1,059 shares during the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its stake in Saratoga Investment by 12.2% in the second quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 9,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $225,000 after buying an additional 1,075 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in Saratoga Investment by 8.2% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 22,224 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $505,000 after buying an additional 1,677 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in Saratoga Investment by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 129,550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,941,000 after buying an additional 3,417 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 19.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Saratoga Investment Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of SAR stock traded down $0.15 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $24.07. The company had a trading volume of 19,815 shares, compared to its average volume of 80,027. Saratoga Investment has a fifty-two week low of $21.56 and a fifty-two week high of $26.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.22 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The company’s fifty day moving average is $24.47 and its 200 day moving average is $23.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $332.19 million, a PE ratio of 15.81 and a beta of 1.33.

Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.39. Saratoga Investment had a return on equity of 15.88% and a net margin of 13.64%. The firm had revenue of $43.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.84 million. Research analysts expect that Saratoga Investment will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Saratoga Investment Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a None dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be issued a $1.09 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 11.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 4th. Saratoga Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 193.46%.

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.