Saul Centers (NYSE:BFS) VP John Collich Buys 2,000 Shares

Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS) VP John Collich purchased 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $29.99 per share, for a total transaction of $59,980.00. Following the purchase, the vice president owned 49,260 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,477,307.40. The trade was a 4.23% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Saul Centers Price Performance

BFS stock traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $29.99. The stock had a trading volume of 23,735 shares, compared to its average volume of 59,181. Saul Centers, Inc. has a 52-week low of $29.16 and a 52-week high of $41.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.16. The company has a market cap of $731.99 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.72 and a beta of 1.16. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.72.

Saul Centers (NYSE:BFS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.09. Saul Centers had a return on equity of 13.79% and a net margin of 15.51%.The company had revenue of $72.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.74 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Saul Centers, Inc. will post 3.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Saul Centers Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 15th were given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 15th. Saul Centers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 203.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Saul Centers in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Saul Centers presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BFS. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Saul Centers by 36.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 119,824 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,322,000 after purchasing an additional 31,722 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in Saul Centers by 12.0% during the second quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 13,162 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $447,000 after purchasing an additional 1,410 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Saul Centers during the 1st quarter valued at $2,597,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Saul Centers during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,253,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new position in shares of Saul Centers during the second quarter worth about $69,000. 49.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Saul Centers

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.