Proficio Capital Partners LLC Makes New $437,000 Investment in Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 11,252 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $437,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Saul Centers by 1,249.5% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,336 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Saul Centers by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 109,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,229,000 after buying an additional 4,547 shares in the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Saul Centers in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $501,000. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Saul Centers by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 8,934 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $347,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in Saul Centers by 62.8% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 8,298 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 3,200 shares in the last quarter. 49.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Saul Centers Price Performance

Saul Centers stock opened at $36.11 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $873.78 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.62 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.61. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.77. Saul Centers, Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.98 and a 52 week high of $42.39.

Saul Centers (NYSE:BFS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $67.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.94 million. Saul Centers had a return on equity of 17.16% and a net margin of 20.84%. On average, research analysts forecast that Saul Centers, Inc. will post 3.14 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 Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Saul Centers’s payout ratio is 144.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Saul Centers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th.

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.