Saul Centers, Inc. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.59 (NYSE:BFS)

Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, September 19th, NASDAQ reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.59 per share by the real estate investment trust on Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.88%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th.

Saul Centers has raised its dividend payment by an average of 18.3% per year over the last three years. Saul Centers has a dividend payout ratio of 173.5% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Research analysts expect Saul Centers to earn $2.92 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 80.8%.

Saul Centers Stock Performance

NYSE:BFS traded down $0.55 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $40.11. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 425,372 shares, compared to its average volume of 54,265. Saul Centers has a fifty-two week low of $33.56 and a fifty-two week high of $41.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.40, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market cap of $961.92 million, a P/E ratio of 23.20 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $39.52 and its 200-day moving average is $37.78.

Saul Centers (NYSE:BFS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.29). The business had revenue of $66.94 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $65.54 million. Saul Centers had a return on equity of 16.61% and a net margin of 20.49%. Equities analysts anticipate that Saul Centers will post 3.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, B. Riley upped their target price on Saul Centers from $43.50 to $45.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd.

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.