Citadel Advisors LLC Acquires 17,613 Shares of Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS)

Citadel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS) by 84.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,421 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,613 shares during the period. Citadel Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.16% of Saul Centers worth $1,491,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BFS. Assetmark Inc. increased 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 worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Saul Centers by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,418 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in Saul Centers during the fourth quarter worth about $105,000. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Saul Centers in the 4th quarter valued at about $179,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Saul Centers in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO B Francis Saul II acquired 2,821 shares of Saul Centers stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $33.22 per share, for a total transaction of $93,713.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 217,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,221,928.34. The trade was a 1.31% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 56.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Saul Centers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th.

Saul Centers Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of BFS opened at $32.63 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.61, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. Saul Centers, Inc. has a 52-week low of $31.25 and a 52-week high of $42.39. The firm has a market cap of $789.68 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.73 and a beta of 1.08. The business’s fifty day moving average is $33.76 and its 200-day moving average is $36.58.

Saul Centers (NYSE:BFS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $70.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $69.76 million. Saul Centers had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 17.16%. Equities analysts anticipate that Saul Centers, Inc. will post 3.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Saul Centers Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 15th. Saul Centers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 160.54%.

Saul Centers 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.