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

Saratoga Investment Corp. (NYSE:SAR) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 151,000 shares, an increase 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.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. bought a new position in Saratoga Investment in the third quarter worth $116,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Saratoga Investment by 2,268.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 112,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,603,000 after acquiring an additional 107,499 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in shares of Saratoga Investment during the fourth quarter valued at $212,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Saratoga Investment during the third quarter valued at $1,450,000. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Saratoga Investment by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 32,845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $786,000 after acquiring an additional 911 shares during the period. 19.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Saratoga Investment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, January 26th. Compass Point lowered their price target on Saratoga Investment from $26.25 to $25.25 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Saratoga Investment currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.08.

Saratoga Investment Stock Performance

Shares of Saratoga Investment stock traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $25.37. The company had a trading volume of 128,264 shares, compared to its average volume of 69,520. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.03. The stock has a market cap of $364.07 million, a PE ratio of 10.23 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.33 and a quick 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, equities analysts predict that Saratoga Investment will post 3.93 EPS 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.