Wedmont Private Capital Buys 315 Shares of Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG)

Wedmont Private Capital grew its stake in shares of Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,150 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 315 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Simon Property Group were worth $919,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Simon Property Group by 51.8% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,209 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $943,000 after purchasing an additional 2,119 shares during the last quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Simon Property Group by 21.6% in the second quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 3,945 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $599,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Diligent Investors LLC increased its position in shares of Simon Property Group by 0.5% in the second quarter. Diligent Investors LLC now owns 13,740 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,086,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its position in shares of Simon Property Group by 8.3% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 62,110 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,428,000 after purchasing an additional 4,766 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peak Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Simon Property Group in the second quarter worth approximately $2,980,000. 93.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Simon Property Group Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:SPG traded up $2.53 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $155.63. 627,898 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,467,708. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.71, a P/E/G ratio of 8.69 and a beta of 1.75. Simon Property Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $102.11 and a 52-week high of $159.73. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.53. The business’s fifty day moving average is $150.92 and its 200-day moving average is $148.58.

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by ($1.42). Simon Property Group had a return on equity of 78.14% and a net margin of 45.90%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.88 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Simon Property Group, Inc. will post 12.85 EPS for the current year.

Simon Property Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid a $2.05 dividend. This is a positive change from Simon Property Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.00. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.27%. Simon Property Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on SPG. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Simon Property Group from $152.00 to $157.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Scotiabank increased 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 report on Thursday, May 16th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Simon Property Group from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Simon Property Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Argus increased 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 report on Tuesday, June 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Simon Property Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $153.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Reuben S. Leibowitz acquired 486 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $150.17 per share, for a total transaction of $72,982.62. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 55,001 shares in the company, valued at $8,259,500.17. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 8.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Simon Property Group

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.