Saul Centers (NYSE:BFS) Lowered 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 note released on Friday.

Separately, B. Riley initiated coverage on shares of Saul Centers in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They set a buy rating and a $43.50 price target for the company.

Saul Centers Stock Performance

NYSE BFS opened at $36.10 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $865.68 million, a PE ratio of 20.87 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.34, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. Saul Centers has a 52-week low of $32.13 and a 52-week high of $41.04. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.36.

Saul Centers Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.54%. Saul Centers’s payout ratio is 136.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Saul Centers news, COO David Todd Pearson acquired 2,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $36.52 per share, with a total value of $83,996.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,204 shares in the company, valued at $226,570.08. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Saul Centers news, COO David Todd Pearson bought 2,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $36.52 per share, with a total value of $83,996.00. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $226,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO B Francis Saul II bought 8,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $37.80 per share, for a total transaction of $325,080.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 146,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,545,486.80. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 56.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BFS. Quadrature Capital Ltd lifted its stake in Saul Centers by 34.7% in the 4th quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 9,132 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 2,355 shares in the last quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Saul Centers by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 8,100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $318,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Saul Centers by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 15,010 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $589,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position in Saul Centers by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 10,427 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $409,000 after buying an additional 1,333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management increased its stake in Saul Centers by 1,932.1% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 56,900 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,234,000 after acquiring an additional 54,100 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.