SAY
Saratoga Investment Corp 8.125% (SAY) Economic Moat Analysis (2026)
Overall Score
Profitability Returns
Gross margin remains strong at 56.6% and operating margin is 46.3%, indicating solid unit economics.
Returns are still modest, with ROIC at 1.4% and ROE at 4.2%, suggesting limited moat-like compounding power.
Net profit margin is 16.6%, but cash generation remains weak with negative operating cash flow and free cash flow.
Balance Sheet Resilience
Liquidity is strong with a current ratio of 5.8 and cash ratio of 5.0, providing near-term flexibility.
Leverage remains elevated, with debt-to-equity at 1.56 and net debt-to-EBITDA at 11.35.
Interest coverage is below 1.0x at 0.92, which limits financial resilience despite the large cash balance.
Cash Conversion Quality
Operating cash flow and free cash flow are both negative, with free cash flow yield at -47.7%.
Income quality is poor at -9.28, indicating earnings are not translating into cash.
Cash conversion remains weak despite a healthy gross margin profile.
Valuation Market Expectations
The stock trades at 3.0x sales and 18.8x earnings, which is not demanding relative to its margin profile.
Price-to-book is 0.81x, suggesting the market is not assigning a premium asset multiple.
Negative free cash flow tempers the apparent cheapness of the valuation.
Sources
- Company filings (10-K, 10-Q, investor presentations)
- Financial and market data providers
- Public news and industry information
🔒 Go Beyond This Framework
This is one of 10 institutional-grade frameworks Invetso runs on Saratoga Investment Corp 8.125%. Unlock the complete analysis — SWOT, Economic Moat, Porter’s Five Forces, Management, PESTLE and the Invetso Quality Score.

