Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Purchases 16,407 Shares of Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its stake in shares of Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS - Free Report) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 681,730 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 16,407 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned 2.82% of Saul Centers worth $26,451,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BFS. Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in Saul Centers by 75.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 34,240 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,437,000 after buying an additional 14,755 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Saul Centers by 280.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 20,932 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $878,000 after acquiring an additional 15,424 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Saul Centers by 7.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 55,666 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,336,000 after acquiring an additional 3,708 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC raised its stake in Saul Centers by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 10,341 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in Saul Centers by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 34,243 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,329,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Saul Centers Price Performance

BFS traded down $0.56 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $32.54. 56,423 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 50,434. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $35.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.48. 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 twelve month low of $31.59 and a twelve month high of $42.39. The company has a market cap of $787.55 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.69 and a beta of 0.97.

Saul Centers (NYSE:BFS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $67.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.94 million. Saul Centers had a return on equity of 17.16% and a net margin of 20.84%. 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 Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.25%. Saul Centers's payout ratio is currently 144.79%.

Saul Centers Company 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.