Swiss National Bank Reduces Stake in Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG)

Swiss National Bank reduced its stake in Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,023,127 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 28,700 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Simon Property Group were worth $145,939,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cascade Investment Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Simon Property Group by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc. now owns 14,701 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,097,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Simon Property Group by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 563 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Simon Property Group by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,403 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $485,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Simon Property Group by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 4,583 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $495,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Simon Property Group by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 9,600 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,369,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. 93.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on SPG shares. StockNews.com raised Simon Property Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Simon Property Group from $142.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Simon Property Group from $143.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on Simon Property Group from $139.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.22.

Simon Property Group Stock Up 1.1 %

SPG stock opened at $142.93 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $148.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $137.77. Simon Property Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $100.17 and a 12 month high of $157.82. The company has a market cap of $46.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.42 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.54, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77.

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.29 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.34 by ($1.05). The business had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.38 billion. Simon Property Group had a net margin of 42.30% and a return on equity of 70.97%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.15 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Simon Property Group, Inc. will post 12.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Simon Property Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $1.95 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $7.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.46%. This is an increase from Simon Property Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.90. Simon Property Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 111.75%.

Simon Property Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, February 8th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the real estate investment trust to buy up to 4.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Simon Property Group Company Profile

Simon is a real estate investment trust engaged in the ownership of premier shopping, dining, entertainment and mixed-use destinations and an S&P 100 company (Simon Property Group, NYSE: SPG). Our properties across North America, Europe and Asia provide community gathering places for millions of people every day and generate billions in annual sales.