Saratoga Investment Corp. (SAY): fair value, margin of safety and Wheel Score

Is SAY undervalued?

Saratoga Investment Corp. (SAY) closed at 25.39 on 5 Nov 2026. The GLS average fair value - the simple average of the 2 valuation models that produced a positive number - is 32.50, so the price sits 22% below it. 1 of the 2 models value the shares above the current price. A margin of safety between 10% and 30% is where most of the Sunday Scan candidates come from.

The average is built from just 2 models (DCF, DDM) - the rest returned nothing because an input they need (dividends, free cash flow, book value) is zero or negative - so treat it with more caution than usual.

The nightly engine files SAY under Speculative - it is losing money or its Piotroski health score is 3 or lower - which caps its Wheel Score at 45 and keeps it out of the Sunday Scan. It also carries the Income tag (Income = a dividend yield of 4% or more).

Nine valuation models for SAY

Each model turns the latest filed numbers into a value per share; the GLS fair value is the simple average of the ones that produce a positive number. The last two rows are shown for reference and never enter the average. The Quote page lets you switch any model off and add your own margin of safety.

Quality and financial health

Saratoga Investment Corp. scores only 3 of 9 on the Piotroski F-score, which fails the "Piotroski 6 or more" Wheel Trade Filter. A reading this low means several of the basic tests - positive earnings, positive operating cash flow, falling debt, no new share issuance - are not met. On durability SAY scores 5.8/10 on the GLS Moat - a middle reading; the Moat Score tab on the Quote page's Financials view shows which of the four parts hold it back.

Returns on capital are thin or negative - ROIC 3.3%, ROE 9.2%, ROA 3.2% - with debt at 1.83 times equity and negative free cash flow.

The dividend yield is high at 23.38% (payout ratio -1120%). A yield this size is often the market's way of pricing a risk to the payout, so the health score and cash flow matter more than usual.

Institutional ownership scores 5/10, insider activity 10/10 and Congressional trading 5/10 on the GLS smart-money scales.

Wheel Score 26: No options

No options are listed on Saratoga Investment Corp. in our nightly snapshot, so it fails the first Wheel Trade Filter (options that actually trade) (it reads 26, under 70) and is left out of every options scan; the fair value and health figures above are still useful for a plain stock position.

Volume runs at 8k shares a day on a market cap of $212M, with a beta of 0.04 - a low beta, so day-to-day moves are smaller than the market's; the Stability part of the Wheel Score rates that fair.

The Wheel Score ranks ~7,400 US stocks for selling cash-secured puts and covered calls: a stock must pass all 9 Wheel Trade Filters to score 70, and the score then ranks the ones that pass; the Sunday Scan is the top 10. It is updated nightly and is not a recommendation. How the Wheel Score works · the walkthrough lesson shows how it fits into a trade, start to finish.

Upcoming events

The next earnings report is due on 13 Jan 2027, 69 days away - outside the window of a 30-45-day put sold today. The shares go ex-dividend on 13 Nov 2026 (0.5078 per share), so a covered call sold before then carries a small early-assignment risk around that date.

Earnings, dividend, IPO, split and economic calendars for the whole market, filterable to your watchlists.

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