Teacher Retirement System of Texas Sells 7,179 Shares of Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lessened its stake in shares of Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS) by 25.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 20,911 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 7,179 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Saul Centers were worth $811,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,237 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Saul Centers by 12.7% during the fourth 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. grew 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 acquired a new position in shares of Saul Centers during the 3rd quarter worth about $202,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Saul Centers in the 3rd quarter valued at about $288,000. 49.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Saul Centers Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Saul Centers stock opened at $36.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.61, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.65. Saul Centers, Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.98 and a 1 year high of $42.39. The company has a market capitalization of $871.74 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.58 and a beta of 1.08.

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

Saul Centers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.55%. Saul Centers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 144.79%.

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.