CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Purchases 2,899 Shares of Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its position in Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS) by 20.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,198 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,899 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co’s holdings in Saul Centers were worth $667,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BFS. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Saul Centers by 1,249.5% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,336 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 1,237 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Saul Centers by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,418 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of Saul Centers during the 4th quarter valued at $105,000. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Saul Centers during the 4th quarter worth about $179,000. Finally, ExodusPoint Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Saul Centers by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 7,837 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 1,514 shares during the period. 49.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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 Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:BFS opened at $32.54 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $34.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.45. The company has a market cap of $787.55 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.69 and a beta of 0.97. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $31.59 and a one year high of $42.39.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.31. Saul Centers had a return on equity of 17.16% and a net margin of 20.84%. The business had revenue of $67.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.94 million. Analysts anticipate that Saul Centers, Inc. will post 3.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Saul Centers Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Saul Centers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 144.79%.

Saul Centers Company 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.