Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS) Shares Acquired by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS) by 62.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,298 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,200 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Saul Centers were worth $322,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Saul Centers by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 19,616 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $823,000 after purchasing an additional 1,627 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Saul Centers by 149.6% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 40,512 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,700,000 after purchasing an additional 24,281 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its position in shares of Saul Centers by 17.1% in the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 43,083 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,808,000 after purchasing an additional 6,301 shares in the last quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Saul Centers by 315.0% in the third quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 25,001 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,049,000 after purchasing an additional 18,976 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in Saul Centers by 21.5% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 14,422 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $605,000 after buying an additional 2,556 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Saul Centers from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th.

Saul Centers Price Performance

Saul Centers stock opened at $36.60 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.61, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. The company has a market capitalization of $884.63 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.89 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.17. Saul Centers, Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.98 and a 1 year high of $42.39.

Saul Centers (NYSE:BFS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $67.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.94 million. Saul Centers had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 17.16%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Saul Centers, Inc. will post 3.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Saul Centers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.45%. Saul Centers’s payout ratio is currently 128.26%.

Saul Centers 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.