Saga Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGA) Short Interest Update

Saga Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGA) was the target of a large drop in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 4,227 shares, a drop of 67.8% from the August 15th total of 13,144 shares. Approximately 0.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 16,004 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.3 days.

Institutional Trading of Saga Communications

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Saga Communications by 0.4% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 350,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,103,000 after buying an additional 1,393 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Saga Communications by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 59,371 shares of the company’s stock worth $678,000 after acquiring an additional 1,923 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Saga Communications by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 35,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,000 after acquiring an additional 2,121 shares during the period. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Saga Communications during the 2nd quarter valued at about $257,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Saga Communications by 30,720.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,000 after acquiring an additional 16,896 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Saga Communications in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Reduce”.

Saga Communications Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of Saga Communications stock traded up $0.23 during trading on Friday, hitting $9.13. The stock had a trading volume of 6,683 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,125. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.08. The company has a market capitalization of $58.07 million, a PE ratio of -6.62 and a beta of -0.11. Saga Communications has a 1 year low of $8.24 and a 1 year high of $13.19.

Saga Communications (NASDAQ:SGA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.33. Saga Communications had a negative net margin of 8.55% and a positive return on equity of 3.87%. The business had revenue of $26.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.50 million.

Saga Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 16th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 23rd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 23rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.0%. Saga Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently -72.46%.

Saga Communications Company Profile

Saga Communications, Inc (NASDAQ: SGA) is an independent radio broadcasting company that owns and operates a portfolio of local radio stations across the United States. Headquartered in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, the company focuses on full‐service radio properties offering a variety of formats, including music, news‐talk and sports programming. In addition to traditional over‐the‐air broadcasts, Saga leverages web streaming and mobile platforms to broaden listener reach and provide advertisers with multimedia opportunities.

Founded in 1985 by Edward J.