Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Janney Montgomery Scott restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Saratoga Investment in a research note on Friday. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Saratoga Investment to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Saratoga Investment in a research note on Wednesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Saratoga Investment presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $23.88.

Saratoga Investment Price Performance

Shares of SAR stock opened at $21.60 on Thursday. Saratoga Investment has a fifty-two week low of $21.10 and a fifty-two week high of $26.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $347.78 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.23 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.29. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.47.

Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.09). Saratoga Investment had a return on equity of 10.09% and a net margin of 27.19%.The business had revenue of $30.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.39 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Saratoga Investment will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Saratoga Investment

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SAR. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Saratoga Investment during the first quarter worth about $398,000. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Saratoga Investment by 300.0% in the first quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Saratoga Investment by 36.4% in the first quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 6,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $176,000 after acquiring an additional 1,850 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in Saratoga Investment by 2.9% in the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 125,792 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,186,000 after acquiring an additional 3,497 shares during the period. Finally, Wedbush Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Saratoga Investment by 23.0% in the first quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 10,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $271,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. 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.