Saul Centers, Inc. (BFS) To Go Ex-Dividend on July 15th

Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be given a dividend of 0.59 per share by the real estate investment trust on Friday, July 31st. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 15th.

Saul Centers has raised its dividend by an average of 0.0%annually over the last three years. Saul Centers has a dividend payout ratio of 181.5% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments.

Saul Centers Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BFS opened at $36.01 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $34.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.54, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 1.71. The stock has a market cap of $883.69 million, a PE ratio of 33.97 and a beta of 0.92. Saul Centers has a 1 year low of $29.16 and a 1 year high of $38.42.

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

Insider Transactions at Saul Centers

In other Saul Centers news, COO David Todd Pearson bought 2,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $34.74 per share, for a total transaction of $90,324.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 79,321 shares in the company, valued at $2,755,611.54. This trade represents a 3.39% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 51.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Saul Centers

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position 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 worth $3,995,000 after buying an additional 68,018 shares during the last quarter. Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Saul Centers by 55.1% during 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 buying an additional 20,803 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Saul Centers in the fourth quarter valued at about $614,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Saul Centers by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,966,888 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $62,016,000 after acquiring an additional 56,758 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Saul Centers by 106.4% during the fourth quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 48,400 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,526,000 after acquiring an additional 24,952 shares during the last quarter. 49.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Saul Centers

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.