Saul Centers (NYSE:BFS) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Saul Centers (NYSE:BFS) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning.

Saul Centers Price Performance

Shares of BFS opened at $37.03 on Friday. Saul Centers has a 1 year low of $34.98 and a 1 year high of $42.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.61. The stock has a market cap of $896.26 million, a P/E ratio of 20.13 and a beta of 1.08. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $36.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.11.

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

Saul Centers Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.37%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Saul Centers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 144.79%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Saul Centers

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Saul Centers by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,418 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC raised its position in Saul Centers by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 8,934 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management raised its position in Saul Centers by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 17,121 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $664,000 after buying an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Saul Centers by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 22,029 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $855,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its position in Saul Centers by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 7,113 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $276,000 after buying an additional 449 shares during the last quarter. 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.