Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR) Short Interest Update

Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR) saw a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 141,300 shares, an increase of 34.2% from the March 15th total of 105,300 shares. Approximately 1.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 122,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.2 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Compass Point reduced their price target on shares of Saratoga Investment from $26.25 to $25.25 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com cut Saratoga Investment from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.08.

Saratoga Investment Stock Performance

NYSE:SAR traded up $0.61 on Friday, hitting $23.46. The stock had a trading volume of 50,857 shares, compared to its average volume of 86,099. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.41. The stock has a market cap of $336.56 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.46 and a beta of 0.94. Saratoga Investment has a 52-week low of $21.10 and a 52-week high of $26.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Saratoga Investment Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This is an increase from Saratoga Investment’s previous monthly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.79%. Saratoga Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 120.97%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Saratoga Investment

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Saratoga Investment in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Saratoga Investment in the third quarter valued at about $116,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in shares of Saratoga Investment in the fourth quarter worth about $212,000. PVG Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in Saratoga Investment during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $236,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in Saratoga Investment in the 4th quarter worth approximately $252,000. Institutional investors own 19.09% of the company’s stock.

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.