JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has $2.34 Million Holdings in Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS) by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,666 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,708 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Saul Centers were worth $2,336,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Saul Centers by 2.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 209,840 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,715,000 after buying an additional 5,330 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Saul Centers by 10.2% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 228,474 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,401,000 after buying an additional 21,100 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in shares of Saul Centers in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,060,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Saul Centers by 6.2% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 28,488 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,048,000 after buying an additional 1,651 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in shares of Saul Centers in the second quarter valued at approximately $257,000. 49.99% of the stock is currently 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 research note on Wednesday, December 18th.

Saul Centers Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of BFS opened at $37.15 on Wednesday. Saul Centers, Inc. has a one year low of $34.87 and a one year high of $42.39. The company has a market cap of $897.92 million, a P/E ratio of 20.19 and a beta of 1.12. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.56.

Saul Centers (NYSE:BFS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.80 by ($0.32). Saul Centers had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 17.16%. The firm had revenue of $67.29 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $65.98 million. Research analysts forecast that Saul Centers, Inc. will post 3.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Saul Centers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.35%. Saul Centers’s dividend payout ratio is currently 128.26%.

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.