GSA Capital Partners LLP Takes $742,000 Position in Saul Centers, Inc. $BFS

GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 19,848 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $742,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in BFS. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Saul Centers by 543.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 189,830 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,050,000 after purchasing an additional 160,335 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Saul Centers by 118.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 125,345 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,995,000 after buying an additional 68,018 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Saul Centers by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,966,888 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $62,016,000 after buying an additional 56,758 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its position in Saul Centers by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 740,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $23,332,000 after buying an additional 50,767 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Saul Centers by 32.3% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 159,400 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,080,000 after buying an additional 38,935 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.99% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Saul Centers news, COO David Todd Pearson purchased 2,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $34.74 per share, with a total value of $90,324.00. Following the completion of 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 51.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Saul Centers in a research report on Friday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Saul Centers Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of BFS stock opened at $34.30 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $847.80 million, a P/E ratio of 35.36 and a beta of 0.91. Saul Centers, Inc. has a one year low of $29.16 and a one year high of $38.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $35.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.64, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62.

Saul Centers (NYSE:BFS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $72.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $78.98 million. Saul Centers had a net margin of 11.54% and a return on equity of 11.97%.

Saul Centers Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 15th were paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.9%. Saul Centers’s payout ratio is presently 243.30%.

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.