Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.59

Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.59 per share by the real estate investment trust on Friday, July 31st. This represents a c) annualized dividend 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 Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BFS opened at $36.01 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $883.69 million, a PE ratio of 33.97 and a beta of 0.92. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $34.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.40. 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 Buying and Selling

In other news, COO David Todd Pearson acquired 2,600 shares of Saul Centers stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $34.74 per share, for a total transaction of $90,324.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer directly owned 79,321 shares in the company, valued at $2,755,611.54. This trade represents a 3.39% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 51.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Saul Centers

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BFS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Saul Centers by 118.6% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Saul Centers by 55.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,560 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,866,000 after acquiring an additional 20,803 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Saul Centers in the fourth quarter valued at about $614,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Saul Centers by 3.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 56,758 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 24,952 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.99% of the company’s stock.

Saul Centers Company 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.