Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) Stock Crosses Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR)’s share price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $23.19 and traded as high as $23.62. Saratoga Investment shares last traded at $23.54, with a volume of 179,974 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on SAR. Compass Point raised shares of Saratoga Investment from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.75 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. B. Riley reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Saratoga Investment in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.94.

Saratoga Investment Trading Up 1.2 %

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $23.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.19. The company has a market capitalization of $323.58 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.45 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.07 and a quick ratio of 0.07.

Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 9th. The financial services provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $38.68 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.52 million. Saratoga Investment had a net margin of 10.66% and a return on equity of 14.67%. On average, equities analysts expect that Saratoga Investment Corp. will post 3.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Saratoga Investment Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 11th were paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.57%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 11th. Saratoga Investment’s payout ratio is presently 244.63%.

Institutional Trading of Saratoga Investment

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SAR. Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its position in shares of Saratoga Investment by 80.3% during the 4th quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 100,385 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,595,000 after acquiring an additional 44,722 shares in the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Saratoga Investment in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $710,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Saratoga Investment by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 125,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,909,000 after buying an additional 2,154 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Saratoga Investment by 14.3% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 126,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,926,000 after buying an additional 15,782 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in Saratoga Investment by 21.3% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 22,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $530,000 after buying an additional 4,016 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.09% of the company’s stock.

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.