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

Saratoga Investment Corp (NYSE:SAR) declared a monthly dividend on Wednesday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 3rd will be given a dividend of 0.25 per share by the financial services provider on Tuesday, December 22nd. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 17.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 3rd.

Saratoga Investment has raised its dividend by an average of 0.2%annually over the last three years. Saratoga Investment has a dividend 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. Research analysts expect Saratoga Investment to earn $2.00 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 150.0%.

Saratoga Investment Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE SAR opened at $17.35 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.09 and a quick ratio of 0.09. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $19.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $278.99 million, a P/E ratio of 17.35 and a beta of 0.54. Saratoga Investment has a 1 year low of $17.20 and a 1 year high of $25.15.

Saratoga Investment (NYSE:SAR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.07). Saratoga Investment had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 12.70%.The business had revenue of $30.78 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.38 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Saratoga Investment will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SAR. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new position in Saratoga Investment during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Saratoga Investment in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in Saratoga Investment in the 3rd quarter valued at about $45,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Saratoga Investment during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Triumph Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Saratoga Investment by 66.2% during the 2nd quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 2,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 1,175 shares in 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.