Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of 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 volume of 91,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Compass Point decreased their price objective on Saratoga Investment from $26.25 to $25.25 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Saratoga Investment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.08.

Institutional Trading of Saratoga Investment

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

Saratoga Investment Price Performance

Shares of Saratoga Investment stock traded up $0.07 on Monday, hitting $25.37. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 128,264 shares, compared to its average volume of 69,520. The company has a market capitalization of $364.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.23 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $24.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.33. Saratoga Investment has a 1 year low of $21.56 and a 1 year high of $26.49.

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

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.