One-glance verdict
Undervalued
$30.91 our estimate vs market $28.81
Wall Street consensus: $43.00 (39.1% higher than our fair-value estimate)
7% below our estimate, below the bear case
Fundamentals snapshot
Saul Centers, Inc.
BFS · NYQ · Real Estate · REIT - Retail
Current price
$28.81
52-week range
$28.27 - $38.42
Market cap
$1.00B
Balance sheet
Distressed
1.77x Concerning
Net debt $1.61B. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
3 Rewards
3 Risks
3 rewards · 3 risks
- Reward Revenue grew 6.5% last year.
- Reward Returns 9.3% on equity, ahead of 60% of its peers.
- Risk Net debt grew 31.7% over 3 years.
- Risk Stock trades 22.1% above its 5-year average P/E.
What this company does
Saul Centers, Inc.
Saul Centers owns and manages shopping centers and mixed-use buildings, mostly around Washington D.C. Their main income comes from rent paid by businesses in these properties, and their success hinges on keeping those businesses happy and paying rent, which provides a steady stream of money called recurring revenue (income that is expected to continue at a regular interval).
How the company got here
Saul Centers has a long history, with roots tracing back to the B.F. Saul real estate organization founded in 1892. The company as it exists today was formed in 1993 when shopping center and related real estate assets from this established family business were brought to the public market as a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT). A REIT is a company that owns, operates, or finances income-producing real estate. Saul Centers' strategy has always been more localized, focusing on a specific geographic area rather than rapid expansion. Over time, it has evolved from solely owning shopping centers to also developing mixed-use properties, which combine different types of real estate like retail, office, and residential spaces.
What it actually does
Saul Centers owns and manages a portfolio of real estate properties, primarily shopping centers and mixed-use developments. Think of them as the landlords for many of the stores and businesses you see in your local community. They lease out space to retailers, service providers, and sometimes office or residential tenants. The company's main goal is to generate steady income from these properties through rent collection and to increase the value of its real estate over time.
Shopping Centers
This is the core business for Saul Centers, making up the largest portion of its revenue. The company owns and operates community and neighborhood shopping centers, which are typically anchored by essential stores like grocery stores (such as Giant Food or Safeway), drug stores (like CVS or Walgreens), and discount retailers. These types of centers are designed to serve the daily needs of the local community, which generally leads to more consistent customer traffic and stable rental income for Saul Centers, even when the broader economy faces challenges.
Mixed-Use Properties
This segment represents a smaller but strategically important part of Saul Centers' business. Mixed-use properties are developments that combine different types of real estate in one location, such as retail shops, office spaces, and apartment buildings. Saul Centers often develops these properties on land it already owns, especially in areas with good access to public transportation (transit-oriented development). The goal here is to create more value from its land by adding residential or office components alongside retail, diversifying its income streams and potentially capturing higher rents.
What management is betting on now
Saul Centers' management is focused on two main strategies: strengthening its existing shopping center portfolio and growing its mixed-use developments. For the shopping centers, this means keeping them full of desirable tenants, improving the properties, and potentially adding new features like more retail pads. For mixed-use projects, the company is working to complete and lease up new developments, like Twinbrook Quarter and Hampden House, to generate steady rental income. The overall aim is to create long-term value by carefully managing its properties and selectively developing new ones in well-chosen locations.
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
Revenue
$78.42M
Net income
$9.47M
Diluted EPS
0.27
Operating cash flow
$13.99M
Free cash flow
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Sources
Revenue
$76.79M
Net income
$8.75M
Diluted EPS
0.24
Operating cash flow
$30.77M
Free cash flow
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Sources
Revenue
$78.26M
Net income
$9.12M
Diluted EPS
0.26
Operating cash flow
$29.29M
Free cash flow
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Sources
Revenue
$75.15M
Net income
$6.50M
Diluted EPS
0.15
Operating cash flow
$22.19M
Free cash flow
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Sources
Revenue
$72.00M
Net income
$10.49M
Diluted EPS
0.32
Operating cash flow
$20.63M
Free cash flow
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Sources
Revenue
$70.83M
Net income
$10.72M
Diluted EPS
0.33
Operating cash flow
$26.60M
Free cash flow
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Sources
Revenue
$71.86M
Net income
$9.80M
Diluted EPS
0.29
Operating cash flow
$30.37M
Free cash flow
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Sources
Revenue
$67.92M
Net income
$8.09M
Diluted EPS
0.22
Operating cash flow
$28.78M
Free cash flow
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Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $30.91 vs current price $28.81
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $43.00 (39.1% higher than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $30.91 a share — about 7.3% above today's price of $28.81, so the stock currently looks cheap (undervalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Distressed
Net debt $1.6B. Interest coverage 1.8x.
Net debt
$1.61B
Interest coverage
1.77x
Saul Centers, Inc.'s profit covers its interest bill about 1.8 times over. which is stronger than most peers shown here.
Distressed
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
BFS
BASELINE
Saul Centers, Inc.
Total debt $1.62B Interest coverage 1.77x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $717.79M Interest coverage 1.29x -27% vs BFS Carries about 1.4x less debt cushion than BFS.
Total debt $859.30M Interest coverage 1.26x -28% vs BFS Carries about 1.4x less debt cushion than BFS.
Total debt $1.21B Interest coverage 2.63x +49% vs BFS Carries about 1.5x more debt cushion than BFS.
Total debt $419.34M Interest coverage 1.19x -32% vs BFS Carries about 1.5x less debt cushion than BFS.
What you should know
The case for and against BFS
3 Rewards
3 Risks
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 6.5% last year.
-
Returns 9.3% on equity, ahead of 60% of its peers.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 4/10 years.
Risks
-
Net debt grew 31.7% over 3 years.
-
Stock trades 22.1% above its 5-year average P/E.
-
Operating margin compressed from 44.7% to 41.9% over 3 years.
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
30.65x
Forward P/E
—
P/B
6.74x
P/S
3.24x
EV/EBITDA
14.58x
PEG ratio
44.97x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
70.1%
Operating margin
41.9%
Net margin
11.0%
ROE
9.3%
ROA
3.6%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
3.48x
Current ratio
0.82x
Quick ratio
0.82x
Total debt
$1.62B
Total cash
$12.54M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$308.62M
Revenue 5Y CAGR
4.9%
EPS TTM
0.94
EPS 5Y CAGR
-12.6%
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$96.24M
Free CF TTM
$99.80M
FCF margin
32.3%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
8.2%
Payout ratio
251.1%
Last ex-div date
2026-10-15