Man Group plc Sells 119,474 Shares of Saul Centers, Inc. $BFS

Man Group plc trimmed its holdings in Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS) by 57.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 89,375 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 119,474 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc’s holdings in Saul Centers were worth $3,342,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Saul Centers by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 39,117 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,411,000 after purchasing an additional 929 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Saul Centers in the 1st quarter worth $118,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Saul Centers during the 1st quarter worth about $392,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Saul Centers by 36.0% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 119,824 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,322,000 after buying an additional 31,722 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in shares of Saul Centers by 152.5% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 22,477 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $811,000 after buying an additional 13,576 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Saul Centers in a research report on Friday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Saul Centers Stock Down 2.0%

NYSE:BFS opened at $32.62 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $35.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.72. The company has a market cap of $806.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.63 and a beta of 0.91. Saul Centers, Inc. has a 52-week low of $29.16 and a 52-week high of $38.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.64, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.62.

Saul Centers (NYSE:BFS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $72.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $78.98 million. Saul Centers had a net margin of 11.54% and a return on equity of 11.97%.

Saul Centers Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 15th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.2%. Saul Centers’s payout ratio is currently 243.30%.

Saul Centers 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.