Vestcor Inc Takes Position in Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS)

Vestcor Inc acquired a new position in shares of Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 10,777 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $418,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Saul Centers by 1,249.5% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,336 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 1,237 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Saul Centers by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,418 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. lifted its stake in Saul Centers by 31.2% during the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 3,648 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $153,000 after purchasing an additional 868 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in Saul Centers in the third quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Saul Centers in the third quarter valued at approximately $288,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.99% of the company’s stock.

Saul Centers Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BFS opened at $36.12 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $874.14 million, a P/E ratio of 19.63 and a beta of 1.08. Saul Centers, Inc. has a twelve month low of $34.98 and a twelve month high of $42.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $36.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.61.

Saul Centers (NYSE:BFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.31. Saul Centers had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 17.16%. The firm had revenue of $67.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.94 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Saul Centers, Inc. will post 3.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Saul Centers Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Saul Centers’s dividend payout ratio is currently 144.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Saul Centers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th.

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.