Saga Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGA) Short Interest Up 44.7% in March

Saga Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGA) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 13,850 shares, a growth of 44.7% from the February 26th total of 9,569 shares. Approximately 0.3% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 7,803 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Saga Communications news, major shareholder Edward K. Christian Trust sold 5,665 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.07, for a total transaction of $68,376.55. Following the sale, the insider owned 881,044 shares in the company, valued at $10,634,201.08. This represents a 0.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 22.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Saga Communications

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SGA. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Saga Communications by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 59,371 shares of the company’s stock worth $678,000 after buying an additional 1,923 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Saga Communications by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $386,000 after acquiring an additional 1,850 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Saga Communications by 30,720.0% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $211,000 after purchasing an additional 16,896 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Saga Communications in the fourth quarter worth $163,000. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Saga Communications by 256.7% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 3,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 2,867 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.28% of the company’s stock.

Saga Communications Stock Performance

NASDAQ SGA traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $11.97. The company had a trading volume of 6,062 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,212. The company has a quick ratio of 2.74, a current ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market cap of $77.09 million, a P/E ratio of -9.81 and a beta of -0.02. Saga Communications has a fifty-two week low of $10.68 and a fifty-two week high of $14.27. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.81.

Saga Communications (NASDAQ:SGA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $1.23. Saga Communications had a negative net margin of 7.37% and a positive return on equity of 4.43%. The company had revenue of $26.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.70 million. Equities analysts predict that Saga Communications will post 0.23 EPS for the current year.

Saga Communications Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 26th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 26th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.4%. Saga Communications’s dividend payout ratio is -81.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SGA has been the topic of several research reports. Zacks Research raised Saga Communications from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Saga Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce”.

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.