Man Group plc Has $3.34 Million Stock Position in Saul Centers, Inc. $BFS

Man Group plc lowered its position in Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS) by 57.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 89,375 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 119,474 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc owned approximately 0.36% of Saul Centers worth $3,342,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Saul Centers in the second quarter worth approximately $84,302,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Saul Centers by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,966,888 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $62,016,000 after acquiring an additional 56,758 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Saul Centers in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $614,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in Saul Centers by 50.2% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 43,635 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,422,000 after acquiring an additional 14,590 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC grew its position in Saul Centers by 106.4% in the fourth quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 48,400 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,526,000 after acquiring an additional 24,952 shares in the last quarter. 49.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Saul Centers in a report on Friday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold”.

Saul Centers Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of Saul Centers stock opened at $32.62 on Tuesday. Saul Centers, Inc. has a 12-month low of $29.16 and a 12-month high of $38.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $35.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $806.37 million, a P/E ratio of 33.63 and a beta of 0.91.

Saul Centers (NYSE:BFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $72.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $78.98 million. Saul Centers had a net margin of 11.54% and a return on equity of 11.97%.

Saul Centers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 15th were issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 15th. Saul Centers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 243.30%.

About Saul Centers

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.