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

Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE:BFS) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, December 6th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of 0.59 per share by the real estate investment trust on Friday, January 31st. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.91%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th.

Saul Centers has increased its dividend by an average of 18.3% annually over the last three years. Saul Centers has a 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. 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 Trading Down 1.0 %

BFS stock traded down $0.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $39.94. 34,646 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 51,825. Saul Centers has a 12-month low of $34.87 and a 12-month high of $42.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.61. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $965.39 million, a P/E ratio of 21.93 and a beta of 1.11.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. B. Riley lifted their price objective on Saul Centers from $43.50 to $45.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Saul Centers from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday.

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.