AlphaQuest LLC Has $258,000 Stake in Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS)

AlphaQuest LLC reduced its stake in shares of Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS) by 53.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,655 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 7,767 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Saul Centers were worth $258,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Saul Centers by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 109,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,229,000 after purchasing an additional 4,547 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Saul Centers by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 55,666 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,336,000 after buying an additional 3,708 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in Saul Centers by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 34,243 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,329,000 after buying an additional 575 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in Saul Centers by 75.7% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 34,240 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,437,000 after acquiring an additional 14,755 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaCentric Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Saul Centers in the fourth quarter worth about $1,164,000. 49.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Saul Centers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th.

Saul Centers Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:BFS opened at $36.13 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $874.38 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.64 and a beta of 1.08. Saul Centers, Inc. has a 12 month low of $34.98 and a 12 month high of $42.39. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.61.

Saul Centers (NYSE:BFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $67.92 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.94 million. Saul Centers had a return on equity of 17.16% and a net margin of 20.84%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Saul Centers, Inc. will post 3.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Saul Centers Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.53%. Saul Centers’s dividend payout ratio is currently 144.79%.

About Saul Centers

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.