Saratoga Investment Corp Announces Monthly Dividend of $0.25 (NYSE:SAR)

Saratoga Investment Corp (NYSE:SAR) announced a monthly dividend on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be paid a dividend of 0.25 per share by the financial services provider on Wednesday, September 23rd. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 13.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 3rd.

Saratoga Investment has increased its dividend by an average of 0.2%per year over the last three years. Saratoga Investment has a payout ratio of 90.4% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings tumble. Equities analysts expect Saratoga Investment to earn $2.12 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $3.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 141.5%.

Saratoga Investment Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of SAR opened at $22.31 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $22.44 and its 200 day moving average is $22.82. The company has a market capitalization of $362.98 million, a PE ratio of 9.58 and a beta of 0.54. Saratoga Investment has a 12-month low of $20.78 and a 12-month high of $25.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.53. The company had revenue of $6.85 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.85 million. Saratoga Investment had a return on equity of 9.29% and a net margin of 29.12%. Research analysts expect that Saratoga Investment will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Saratoga Investment

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Closed End Fund Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Saratoga Investment during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,680,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Saratoga Investment by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 61,809 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,426,000 after buying an additional 9,199 shares during the last quarter. Daytona Street Capital LLC bought a new position in Saratoga Investment during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Focus Financial Network Inc. boosted its stake in Saratoga Investment by 24.3% during the fourth quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 19,455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $449,000 after buying an additional 3,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Saratoga Investment by 9.8% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 115,641 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,820,000 after buying an additional 10,356 shares during the last quarter. 19.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Saratoga Investment

Saratoga Investment Corp. is a closed-end, externally managed investment company that seeks to generate current income and total return through a diversified portfolio of private U.S. companies. Trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SAR, the firm primarily targets middle-market businesses across a broad range of industries, including industrials, healthcare, consumer products, financial services and technology. Its investment approach combines debt and equity instruments, providing flexible capital solutions such as first-lien and second-lien secured loans, mezzanine debt, preferred equity and common equity positions.

As an actively managed vehicle, Saratoga Investment works closely with portfolio companies’ management teams to support growth initiatives, operational improvements, and strategic transactions.