Saul Centers (NYSE:BFS) Hits New 1-Year High at $41.80

Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $41.80 and last traded at $41.48, with a volume of 3813 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $41.01.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, B. Riley lifted their target price on shares of Saul Centers from $43.50 to $45.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd.

Saul Centers Price Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average of $39.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.40. The firm has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.27 and a beta of 1.10.

Saul Centers (NYSE:BFS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.29). The business had revenue of $66.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $65.54 million. Saul Centers had a return on equity of 16.61% and a net margin of 20.49%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Saul Centers, Inc. will post 3.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Saul Centers Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.63%. Saul Centers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 136.42%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BFS. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Saul Centers by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 15,010 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $589,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Saul Centers by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 8,100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd raised its stake in shares of Saul Centers by 34.7% during the 4th quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 9,132 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 2,355 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of Saul Centers by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,283 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $434,000 after buying an additional 1,230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in Saul Centers during the first quarter valued at about $224,000. 49.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Saul Centers

Saul Centers is a self-managed, self-administered equity REIT headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland. Saul Centers currently operates and manages a real estate portfolio comprised of 61 properties that includes (a) 57 community and neighborhood Shopping Centers and Mixed-Use properties with approximately 9.8 million square feet of leasable area and (b) four land and development properties.