Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR) Short Interest Up 17.1% in January

Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 151,000 shares, a growth of 17.1% from the January 15th total of 129,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 91,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Saratoga Investment

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in Saratoga Investment during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. bought a new position in Saratoga Investment during the third quarter valued at approximately $116,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in Saratoga Investment during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $212,000. PVG Asset Management Corp bought a new position in Saratoga Investment during the third quarter valued at approximately $236,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in Saratoga Investment during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $252,000. Institutional investors own 19.09% of the company’s stock.

Saratoga Investment Trading Up 0.3 %

SAR stock traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $25.37. 128,264 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 69,520. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Saratoga Investment has a 52-week low of $21.56 and a 52-week high of $26.49. The company has a market cap of $364.07 million, a P/E ratio of 10.23 and a beta of 1.34. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $24.52 and its 200-day moving average is $24.03.

Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.08. Saratoga Investment had a net margin of 22.01% and a return on equity of 15.53%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Saratoga Investment will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on SAR shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Saratoga Investment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 26th. Compass Point reduced their price objective 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.08.

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.