Vanguard Group Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS)

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its position in Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,959,661 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 6,689 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 8.11% of Saul Centers worth $76,035,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Saul Centers by 1,249.5% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,336 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 1,237 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake 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 worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Saul Centers in the 4th quarter valued at $105,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in shares of Saul Centers during the 3rd quarter worth $202,000. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Saul Centers by 62.8% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 8,298 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 3,200 shares during the last quarter. 49.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Saul Centers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th.

Saul Centers Price Performance

BFS opened at $32.40 on Friday. Saul Centers, Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.63 and a 1 year high of $42.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.61, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $784.04 million, a PE ratio of 17.61 and a beta of 0.97.

Saul Centers (NYSE:BFS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $67.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.94 million. Saul Centers had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 17.16%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Saul Centers, Inc. will post 3.14 EPS for the current year.

Saul Centers Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.28%. Saul Centers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 144.79%.

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.