JPMorgan Chase & Co. Purchases 3,708 Shares of Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS) by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 55,666 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,708 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.23% of Saul Centers worth $2,336,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Saul Centers by 280.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 20,932 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $878,000 after purchasing an additional 15,424 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management bought a new stake in Saul Centers during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $702,000. Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in Saul Centers by 75.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 34,240 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,437,000 after acquiring an additional 14,755 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. grew its position in Saul Centers by 31.2% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 3,648 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $153,000 after acquiring an additional 868 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Martingale Asset Management L P grew its position in Saul Centers by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 16,941 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $711,000 after acquiring an additional 1,664 shares during the last quarter. 49.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Saul Centers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th.

Saul Centers Price Performance

BFS stock opened at $37.15 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $39.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.56. The stock has a market cap of $897.92 million, a PE ratio of 20.19 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.61. Saul Centers, Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.87 and a 1 year high of $42.39.

Saul Centers (NYSE:BFS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by ($0.32). The firm had revenue of $67.29 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $65.98 million. Saul Centers had a return on equity of 17.16% and a net margin of 20.84%. Equities analysts forecast that Saul Centers, Inc. will post 3.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Saul Centers Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. Saul Centers’s payout ratio is 128.26%.

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.