Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Grows Stake in Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 109,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 4,547 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Saul Centers were worth $4,229,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BFS. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Saul Centers by 31.2% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 3,648 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $153,000 after acquiring an additional 868 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in Saul Centers during the third quarter worth $202,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Saul Centers during the 3rd quarter valued at about $288,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Saul Centers by 62.8% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 8,298 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 3,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Saul Centers by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 8,934 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. 49.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Saul Centers Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE BFS opened at $35.90 on Thursday. Saul Centers, Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.98 and a 52 week high of $42.39. The firm has a market cap of $868.89 million, a PE ratio of 19.51 and a beta of 1.08. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.61.

Saul Centers (NYSE:BFS) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.31. Saul Centers had a return on equity of 17.16% and a net margin of 20.84%. The company had revenue of $67.92 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.94 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Saul Centers, Inc. will post 3.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Saul Centers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.57%. Saul Centers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 144.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com cut Saul Centers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th.

Saul Centers Profile

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.