Renaissance Technologies LLC Sells 39,167 Shares of Saul Centers, Inc. $BFS

Renaissance Technologies LLC lessened its position in Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS) by 17.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 186,474 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 39,167 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Saul Centers were worth $6,075,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Saul Centers during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in Saul Centers by 82.9% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,412 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its position in Saul Centers by 35.8% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,444 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Saul Centers in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Saul Centers by 450.6% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,795 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,469 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 49.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Saul Centers in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Saul Centers Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of BFS stock opened at $34.04 on Wednesday. Saul Centers, Inc. has a 1 year low of $29.16 and a 1 year high of $38.42. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $36.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.50. 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 company has a market cap of $835.34 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.11 and a beta of 0.91.

Saul Centers (NYSE:BFS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $74.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.11 million. Saul Centers had a return on equity of 12.44% and a net margin of 12.43%.

Saul Centers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th were given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 15th. Saul Centers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 222.64%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO David Todd Pearson acquired 2,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $34.74 per share, for a total transaction of $90,324.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 79,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,755,611.54. This trade represents a 3.39% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 51.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Saul Centers

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.