Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Reduces Stake in Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lowered its stake in Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) by 2.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,432,404 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 88,877 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 1.36% of Simon Property Group worth $693,629,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Simon Property Group by 1.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,380,446 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,258,076,000 after buying an additional 672,941 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Simon Property Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,561,181,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Simon Property Group by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,537,655 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $504,611,000 after buying an additional 72,645 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Simon Property Group by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,228,580 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $317,881,000 after acquiring an additional 183,702 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centersquare Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Simon Property Group by 4.5% during the first quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 1,814,206 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $283,905,000 after acquiring an additional 78,866 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.01% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Simon Property Group news, Director Reuben S. Leibowitz bought 486 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $150.17 per share, for a total transaction of $72,982.62. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 55,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,259,500.17. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 8.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Simon Property Group Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of SPG stock traded down $0.73 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $151.72. 126,997 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,465,746. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $149.67 and its 200-day moving average is $147.80. The company has a market cap of $49.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.42, a P/E/G ratio of 8.86 and a beta of 1.75. The company has a current ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.20. Simon Property Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $102.11 and a fifty-two week high of $158.50.

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.80 by ($0.55). Simon Property Group had a net margin of 46.49% and a return on equity of 78.50%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.74 earnings per share. Simon Property Group’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Simon Property Group, Inc. will post 12.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Simon Property Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were given a dividend of $2.00 per share. This is an increase from Simon Property Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.95. This represents a $8.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.27%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. Simon Property Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SPG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Simon Property Group from $157.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Simon Property Group from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Simon Property Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $149.89.

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.