Saul Centers (NYSE:BFS) Stock Crosses Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $31.90 and traded as high as $32.98. Saul Centers shares last traded at $32.6580, with a volume of 34,312 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Saul Centers in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Saul Centers has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Saul Centers Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $33.38 and a 200 day moving average of $31.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $793.45 million, a PE ratio of 29.72 and a beta of 0.99.

Saul Centers (NYSE:BFS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.12). Saul Centers had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 12.48%. The firm had revenue of $71.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.15 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Saul Centers, Inc. will post 3.14 EPS for the current year.

Saul Centers Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.3%. Saul Centers’s payout ratio is presently 216.51%.

Institutional Trading of Saul Centers

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BFS. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Saul Centers by 1,011.6% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,101 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 1,912 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Saul Centers by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 166,070 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,236,000 after purchasing an additional 6,670 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in shares of Saul Centers in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $289,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new position in Saul Centers during the fourth quarter worth approximately $450,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Saul Centers during the fourth quarter worth $228,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.99% of the company’s stock.

Saul Centers Company Profile

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.