Advisors Preferred LLC Acquires New Holdings in Saul Centers, Inc. $BFS

Advisors Preferred LLC purchased a new position in Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 11,131 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $386,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BFS. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Saul Centers during the 1st quarter valued at $2,597,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of Saul Centers during the 1st quarter valued at $1,253,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Saul Centers by 36.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 119,824 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,322,000 after purchasing an additional 31,722 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in shares of Saul Centers by 98.1% during the 1st quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 59,890 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,160,000 after purchasing an additional 29,664 shares during the period. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Saul Centers by 124.5% during the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 33,867 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,222,000 after purchasing an additional 18,782 shares during the period. 49.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Saul Centers in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Saul Centers currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Saul Centers Stock Performance

BFS opened at $29.63 on Tuesday. Saul Centers, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $29.16 and a fifty-two week high of $42.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $721.99 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.45 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a fifty day moving average of $31.63 and a 200 day moving average of $32.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.16, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.28.

Saul Centers (NYSE:BFS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.02). Saul Centers had a return on equity of 13.79% and a net margin of 15.51%.The business had revenue of $69.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $71.39 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Saul Centers, Inc. will post 3.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Saul Centers Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th were paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 15th. Saul Centers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 178.79%.

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.