Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 1,981 Shares of Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp cut its holdings in Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 120,241 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,981 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Saul Centers were worth $4,665,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Saul Centers by 31.2% in 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 purchased a new position in shares of Saul Centers during the third quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in Saul Centers during the third quarter valued at approximately $288,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in 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 worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 3,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC grew its position in Saul Centers by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 8,934 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the period. 49.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Saul Centers Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BFS opened at $36.12 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $36.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.93. Saul Centers, Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.98 and a 1 year high of $42.39. The stock has a market cap of $874.14 million, a PE ratio of 19.63 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.61, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Saul Centers (NYSE:BFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $67.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.94 million. Saul Centers had a return on equity of 17.16% and a net margin of 20.84%. Equities analysts anticipate that Saul Centers, Inc. will post 3.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.53%. Saul Centers’s payout ratio is presently 144.79%.

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.