Saul Centers (NYSE:BFS) Coverage Initiated at B. Riley

B. Riley assumed coverage on shares of Saul Centers (NYSE:BFS) in a report issued on Thursday, StockNewsAPI reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $43.50 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock. B. Riley’s price target suggests a potential upside of 20.03% from the stock’s current price. B. Riley also issued estimates for Saul Centers’ FY2025 earnings at $2.74 EPS.

Saul Centers Price Performance

Saul Centers stock opened at $36.24 on Thursday. Saul Centers has a 52 week low of $32.13 and a 52 week high of $41.04. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $37.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.34. The stock has a market cap of $869.11 million, a P/E ratio of 20.95 and a beta of 1.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Saul Centers news, Director James Page Lansdale sold 5,502 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.89, for a total transaction of $208,470.78. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,181.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director James Page Lansdale sold 5,502 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.89, for a total value of $208,470.78. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,181.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO David Todd Pearson purchased 2,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $36.52 per share, for a total transaction of $83,996.00. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer now owns 6,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $226,570.08. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 50.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Saul Centers in the fourth quarter worth $4,591,000. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in Saul Centers by 4.2% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,053,310 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $75,623,000 after buying an additional 83,678 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Saul Centers during the third quarter valued at about $2,768,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Saul Centers by 2.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,167,051 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $114,203,000 after buying an additional 58,063 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management boosted its position in Saul Centers by 1,932.1% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 56,900 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,234,000 after buying an additional 54,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 49.99% of the company’s stock.

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.