Saga Communications Inc key statistics and ratios

In fiscal 2025, Saga Communications Inc had return on equity of -5.0%, an operating margin of -10.3%, debt equal to 3.3% of equity and a current ratio of 3.04. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.

Financial ratios

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal years, plus the last twelve months (LTM) when newer.

Saga Communications Inc: financial ratios, annual
Fiscal year	2009Dec 2009	2010Dec 2010	2011Dec 2011	2012Dec 2012	2013Dec 2013	2014Dec 2014	2015Dec 2015	2016Dec 2016	2017Dec 2017	2018Dec 2018	2019Dec 2019	2020Dec 2020	2021Dec 2021	2022Dec 2022	2023Dec 2023	2024Dec 2024	2025Dec 2025	LTMJun 2026
Operating margin	1.2%	22.4%	21.4%	24.6%	20.3%	19.4%	15.3%	18.9%	14.6%	15.8%	15.3%	−1.3%	13.9%	11.4%	9.9%	2.1%	−10.3%	−12.3%
Net margin	−2.1%	12.0%	10.1%	13.8%	11.8%	11.1%	12.0%	15.3%	46.3%	11.0%	10.8%	−2.0%	10.3%	8.0%	8.2%	3.1%	−7.4%	−8.5%
Free-cash-flow margin	17.6%	18.6%	17.4%	20.1%	16.7%	14.8%	22.4%	21.3%	−0.7%	15.7%	15.9%	10.2%	14.0%	9.7%	9.5%	8.9%	2.3%	−1.0%
Return on equity	−4.0%	21.0%	14.6%	18.2%	14.3%	13.3%	11.3%	14.1%	34.8%	7.5%	7.0%	−1.0%	5.8%	4.9%	5.4%	2.1%	−5.0%	−5.9%
Return on assets	—	7.6%	6.5%	9.2%	7.8%	7.7%	6.8%	8.6%	23.3%	5.5%	5.3%	−0.8%	4.5%	3.8%	4.0%	1.5%	−3.7%	−4.5%
Asset turnover	—	0.63	0.64	0.67	0.66	0.70	0.56	0.56	0.50	0.50	0.49	0.38	0.44	0.47	0.49	0.50	0.51	0.52
Current ratio	—	1.98	2.12	3.02	3.01	3.34	3.34	3.29	3.64	2.96	3.81	5.09	3.88	2.31	2.16	2.84	3.04	2.24
Debt to equity	0.0%	120.0%	74.3%	56.5%	42.0%	31.3%	29.6%	26.9%	13.9%	10.8%	5.2%	5.2%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	3.0%	3.3%	3.4%
Interest cover (operating income ÷ interest)	0.3x	5.0x	7.8x	18.5x	20.2x	24.4x	20.0x	30.3x	19.1x	20.8x	25.6x	n/m	53.0x	100.5x	66.4x	6.8x	n/m	n/m
Effective tax rate	—	40.7%	40.0%	39.8%	39.9%	40.3%	41.8%	40.7%	−36.3%	29.4%	29.0%	—	27.6%	34.3%	26.2%	24.3%	—	—
Capital spending as % of revenue	3.3%	3.3%	4.3%	3.7%	4.0%	4.1%	3.2%	3.3%	5.3%	4.7%	4.7%	2.4%	3.7%	5.2%	3.8%	3.3%	2.8%	3.0%
Free cash flow ÷ net income	—	154.6%	172.3%	145.9%	141.2%	133.5%	186.7%	139.3%	−1.6%	143.4%	147.6%	—	135.7%	121.0%	116.0%	289.2%	—	—
Dividends ÷ net income	—	0.0%	0.0%	39.1%	67.6%	69.9%	47.8%	42.0%	9.7%	86.7%	64.9%	—	17.2%	215.0%	209.2%	650.9%	—	—
Dividends and buybacks ÷ free cash flow	0.1%	0.3%	0.5%	26.8%	47.9%	52.4%	25.6%	30.1%	—	60.4%	44.0%	38.0%	12.6%	177.7%	180.3%	225.1%	265.5%	—

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal quarters.

Saga Communications Inc: financial ratios, quarterly
Quarter	2024 Q3Sept 2024	2024 Q4Dec 2024	2025 Q1Mar 2025	2025 Q2Jun 2025	2025 Q3Sept 2025	2025 Q4Dec 2025	2026 Q1Mar 2026	2026 Q2Jun 2026
Operating margin	5.7%	3.4%	−9.5%	5.0%	−2.2%	−36.0%	−14.3%	2.4%
Net margin	4.4%	4.3%	−6.5%	4.0%	−1.9%	−26.1%	−10.5%	3.6%
Free-cash-flow margin	15.6%	10.5%	2.8%	−2.0%	9.8%	−1.7%	−1.6%	−11.2%
Current ratio	2.64	2.84	2.72	2.76	2.74	3.04	2.81	2.24
Debt to equity	3.0%	3.0%	3.1%	3.1%	3.1%	3.3%	3.4%	3.4%

Returns use average equity or assets over the year. Return on equity is left blank when equity is negative or so small that the ratio says nothing (above ±200%); interest cover is left blank above 200 times. Price-based ratios such as P/E are on the valuation page.

Financial health

5 of 7 checks passed · June 30, 2026

What it owns · $197m

Short-term assets $46mLonger-term assets $151m

What it owes, and who funded it · $197m

Short-term liabilities $21mLonger-term liabilities $28mShareholders' equity $148m

Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $46m of assets due within a year against $21m of liabilities due within a year.
Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities $46m short-term assets against $28m of longer-dated liabilities.
More cash than debt $18m of cash against $5m of debt.
Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Debt is 3% of equity.
Debt burden no higher than five years ago Debt to equity moved from 0% to 3% over five years.
A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt $2m of operating cash flow against $5m of debt.
Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Operating income of −$13m against $403,000 of interest.

From Saga Communications Inc's latest balance sheet as filed. Checks are fixed, documented rules (methodology), counted only where the company reports the figures — a dot means the filing doesn't break the item out. Descriptions of reported data, not advice.

Moat

30 /100

Weak moat

How hard Saga Communications's competitive advantage looks for rivals to wear away, judged from 10 years of its own filings: returns on capital, pricing power, profit durability, cash conversion and discipline.

Returns on capital 3 / 20

Net income has been a median 3.2% of total assets over 10 years.
Durability 2 / 20

Operating margin has been a median 10.0%; its worst year was -12.3%.
Cash conversion 13 / 20

Free cash flow was positive in 8 of 10 years, at a median 9.6% of revenue.
Discipline 10 / 20

The diluted share count rose 3.8% over five years.

AI disruption exposure: Medium. In this industry, AI could change how the product is made or sold, without replacing the core asset. The score above includes a 5-point deduction for that exposure (35 before it).

A rules-based reading of reported figures, not a forecast and not investment advice. How the score is built: methodology.

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Figures from Saga Communications Inc's SEC filings (10-K and 10-Q), retrieved October 29, 2026. How we read and check them: methodology and data sources. Not investment advice. Back to Saga Communications Inc.