Saul Centers (NYSE:BFS) COO Acquires $90,324.00 in Stock

Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS) COO David Todd Pearson purchased 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $34.74 per share, with a total value of $90,324.00. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer owned 79,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,755,611.54. The trade was a 3.39% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Saul Centers Stock Down 0.4%

Saul Centers stock opened at $35.40 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.54, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a current ratio of 1.71. Saul Centers, Inc. has a 52-week low of $29.16 and a 52-week high of $35.85. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $33.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.93. The firm has a market cap of $868.72 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.40 and a beta of 0.92.

Saul Centers (NYSE:BFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.13. Saul Centers had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 12.44%. The firm had revenue of $74.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.11 million.

Saul Centers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.7%. Saul Centers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 222.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Saul Centers in a report on Monday, May 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, Saul Centers has an average rating of “Hold”.

Institutional Trading of Saul Centers

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp increased its stake in shares of Saul Centers by 66,361.3% in the 3rd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 1,341,190 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $42,744,000 after acquiring an additional 1,339,172 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Saul Centers by 118.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 125,345 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,995,000 after acquiring an additional 68,018 shares in the last quarter. Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Saul Centers by 55.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,560 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,866,000 after acquiring an additional 20,803 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Saul Centers in the 4th quarter valued at $614,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Saul Centers by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,966,888 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $62,016,000 after acquiring an additional 56,758 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 49.99% of the company’s stock.

Saul Centers Company Profile

Saul Centers, Inc is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that specializes in the ownership, development and management of retail properties. The company’s portfolio is focused on grocery-anchored and necessity-based shopping centers, providing stable, long-term cash flows through leasing arrangements with national and regional retailers. In addition to ground-up development, Saul Centers actively pursues redevelopment and adaptive reuse projects to enhance value in existing assets.

Founded by the Saul family in 1945, Saul Centers has grown from a local real estate development firm into a listed REIT while maintaining its headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland.