Saul Centers (NYSE:BFS) Sets New 12-Month Low – Here’s What Happened

Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $31.63 and last traded at $33.37, with a volume of 90975 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $32.21.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Saul Centers Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $807.68 million, a PE ratio of 18.14 and a beta of 0.97. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $36.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.23.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $67.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 analysts expect that Saul Centers, Inc. will post 3.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Saul Centers Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.07%. Saul Centers’s payout ratio is currently 144.79%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Saul Centers by 280.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 20,932 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $878,000 after buying an additional 15,424 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in Saul Centers by 75.7% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 34,240 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,437,000 after acquiring an additional 14,755 shares in the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management acquired a new stake in Saul Centers in the third quarter valued at approximately $702,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Saul Centers by 7.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 55,666 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,336,000 after acquiring an additional 3,708 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its position in Saul Centers by 62.8% in 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.99% of the company’s stock.

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.