Crossingbridge Advisors LLC Buys New Holdings in Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS)

Crossingbridge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 30,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $1,164,000. Crossingbridge Advisors LLC owned about 0.12% of Saul Centers at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew 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 buying an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its stake in Saul Centers by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 8,934 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management grew its position in Saul Centers by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 17,121 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $664,000 after acquiring an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC raised its stake in Saul Centers by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 10,341 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $401,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Saul Centers by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 34,243 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,329,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. 49.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Saul Centers Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE BFS traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $32.75. 13,788 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 50,851. The stock has a market cap of $792.56 million, a P/E ratio of 17.80 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 $31.58 and a one year high of $42.39. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.41.

Saul Centers (NYSE:BFS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $67.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.94 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Saul Centers, Inc. will post 3.14 EPS for the current year.

Saul Centers Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th were paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.21%. Saul Centers's dividend payout ratio is currently 144.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Saul Centers from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th.

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.