National Pension Service Buys 21,253 Shares of Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG)

National Pension Service lifted its position in Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 796,232 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,253 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.24% of Simon Property Group worth $113,575,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cascade Investment Group Inc. grew its position in 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 worth $2,097,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Simon Property Group by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 563 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Simon Property Group by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,403 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $485,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Simon Property Group by 1.9% during the third quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 4,583 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $495,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its position in Simon Property Group by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 9,600 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,369,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.01% of the company’s stock.

Simon Property Group Stock Performance

SPG traded down $0.07 on Wednesday, hitting $147.88. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,378,951 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,492,443. Simon Property Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $100.17 and a 12 month high of $157.82. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $148.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $138.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.54. The firm has a market cap of $48.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.50 and a beta of 1.68.

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80 by ($0.55). The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Simon Property Group had a return on equity of 70.97% and a net margin of 42.30%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.74 EPS. Analysts forecast that Simon Property Group, Inc. will post 12.06 EPS for the current year.

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

Simon Property Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of $2.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $8.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.41%. This is a boost from Simon Property Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.95. Simon Property Group’s payout ratio is currently 111.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.