Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Purchases Shares of 21,944 Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 21,944 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $792,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC owned 0.09% of Saul Centers at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BFS. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Saul Centers by 1,249.5% in the fourth 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 during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised 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 valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Saul Centers during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $105,000. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Saul Centers during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $179,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new position in Saul Centers during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $208,000. 49.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Saul Centers from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th.

Insider Transactions at Saul Centers

In related news, CEO B Francis Saul II acquired 7,179 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $33.59 per share, for a total transaction of $241,142.61. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 214,576 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,207,607.84. This trade represents a 3.46% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 10,210 shares of company stock worth $341,786. Corporate insiders own 56.57% of the company's stock.

Saul Centers Price Performance

BFS traded down $0.36 during trading on Friday, hitting $34.57. 137,047 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 50,133. Saul Centers, Inc. has a twelve month low of $31.25 and a twelve month high of $42.39. The company has a market cap of $836.59 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.52 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.04, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $33.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.74.

Saul Centers (NYSE:BFS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.02). Saul Centers had a net margin of 17.09% and a return on equity of 14.69%. The firm had revenue of $70.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $69.76 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Saul Centers, Inc. will post 3.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Saul Centers Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.83%. Saul Centers's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 160.54%.

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.