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

StockNews.com cut 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 Stock Performance

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

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

Saul Centers Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Saul Centers’s payout ratio is currently 144.79%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Saul Centers

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sargent Investment Group LLC raised its stake in Saul Centers by 315.0% during the third quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 25,001 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,049,000 after buying an additional 18,976 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Saul Centers by 280.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 20,932 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $878,000 after buying an additional 15,424 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in Saul Centers by 75.7% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 34,240 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,437,000 after buying an additional 14,755 shares during the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management bought a new position in Saul Centers during the third quarter worth $702,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Saul Centers by 7.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 55,666 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,336,000 after buying an additional 3,708 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.