Marshall Wace LLP Invests $257,000 in Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS)

Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 6,987 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $257,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Whittier Trust Co. purchased a new position in Saul Centers in the second quarter valued at about $74,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Saul Centers by 235.4% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 3,223 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 2,262 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in Saul Centers in the first quarter valued at about $224,000. SageView Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Saul Centers in the first quarter valued at about $297,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd raised its stake in Saul Centers by 34.7% during the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 9,132 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $359,000 after buying an additional 2,355 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.99% of the company’s stock.

Saul Centers Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE BFS opened at $40.65 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $40.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.12. Saul Centers, Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.56 and a 52-week high of $42.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $981.29 million, a P/E ratio of 22.84 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.40.

Saul Centers (NYSE:BFS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.29). The company had revenue of $66.94 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $65.54 million. Saul Centers had a return on equity of 16.61% and a net margin of 20.49%. On average, 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 declared 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. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. Saul Centers’s payout ratio is 132.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, B. Riley upped their price objective on Saul Centers from $43.50 to $45.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd.

Saul Centers Company Profile

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.