Saul Centers, Inc. Depositary S BFS-PD

Competitive advantage analysis · real-estate

REIT Specialized
Overall moat score
47/100
Developing

About Saul Centers, Inc. Depositary S

Saul Centers, Inc. is a self-managed, self-administered equity REIT headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, which currently operates and manages a real estate portfolio of 62 properties which includes (a) 59 community and neighborhood shopping centers and mixed-use properties with approximately 10.5 million square feet of leasable area and (b) three land and development properties. Over 85% of the Saul Centers' property … Full BFS-PD analysis →

Competitive advantage assessment

Key strengths

  • Accretive Growth Track Record Growth appears accretive (score 0.92), suggesting disciplined capital allocation.
  • Efficient Property Management Property management is efficient (score 0.64).

Key risks

  • Elevated Leverage Risk Leverage is elevated (score 0.18), raising refinancing risk.
  • Weak AFFO Coverage AFFO generation is weak (score 0.22), threatening dividend sustainability.

The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.

Upgrade to unlock the signals and evidence behind each defense.

Premium access

Unlock full defense analysis

Get key signals, strengths, and risks for every moat dimension.

Upgrade to Premium Unlock all moat defenses and evidence.

Rent Pricing Power

Moderate
51

How BFS-PD scores on the REIT Specialized defenses

Rent Pricing Power

Score 51 · 20% of the moat score

For a REIT, pricing power is the ability to raise rents at renewal and still keep the space occupied.

AFFO Strength

Score 27 · 18% of the moat score

AFFO — adjusted funds from operations — is the cash a REIT can actually distribute after the recurring capital spending buildings need in order to stay leasable.

Balance Sheet & Cost of Capital

Score 23 · 20% of the moat score

Real estate is bought with borrowed money, so a REIT's cost of capital is its competitive advantage.

Capital Recycling & Growth

Score 89 · 16% of the moat score

REITs grow by issuing shares and debt to buy more property, which creates value only when the yield on the asset exceeds the cost of the capital raised.

Operational Efficiency

Score 43 · 14% of the moat score

Running property — leasing, maintenance, taxes, management — is the part of the business a REIT genuinely controls.

Portfolio Quality & Diversification

Score 61 · 12% of the moat score

Portfolio quality is really a question about what happens when a tenant fails.

How each REIT Specialized defense is measured, in full →

Understanding BFS-PD's moat

What is Saul Centers, Inc. Depositary S's moat score?

Saul Centers, Inc. Depositary S (BFS-PD) scores 47 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as developing. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 37 companies in REIT - Retail. Its strongest defense is Capital Recycling & Growth (89/100) and its weakest is Balance Sheet & Cost of Capital (23/100).

How is the moat score calculated?

Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — REIT Specialized in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 37 companies in REIT - Retail. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.

Why is Saul Centers, Inc. Depositary S scored with the REIT Specialized template?

A REIT is a portfolio of buildings financed with debt and required to distribute most of its taxable income. Reported earnings are dominated by depreciation on assets that often appreciate, so net income says very little; the real question is how much cash the properties distribute, and how securely. The REIT template scores what determines that: rent pricing, distributable cash, cost of capital, and the discipline behind growth.

Which competitive defenses are measured for Saul Centers, Inc. Depositary S?

The REIT Specialized template measures 6 defenses, and BFS-PD scores: Rent Pricing Power (51), AFFO Strength (27), Balance Sheet & Cost of Capital (23), Capital Recycling & Growth (89), Operational Efficiency (43), Portfolio Quality & Diversification (61). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.

Send Feedback
Please select a category.
0/1000