Smead Capital Management Inc. Sells 38,930 Shares of Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG)

Smead Capital Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,300,976 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 38,930 shares during the quarter. Simon Property Group accounts for 5.9% of Smead Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Smead Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.71% of Simon Property Group worth $328,211,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Simon Property Group by 16.6% during the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 360,116 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,903,000 after buying an additional 51,380 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Simon Property Group by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 152,740 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $21,923,000 after buying an additional 6,703 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Simon Property Group by 121.5% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 32,003 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,565,000 after buying an additional 17,552 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Simon Property Group during the fourth quarter worth $238,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Simon Property Group by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 81,813 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,670,000 after buying an additional 7,250 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SPG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Simon Property Group from $142.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Simon Property Group from $139.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Simon Property Group from $144.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Simon Property Group from $148.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Simon Property Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.22.

Simon Property Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SPG traded down $0.37 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $140.57. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 358,890 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,495,764. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $149.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $135.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.13, a P/E/G ratio of 7.36 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.54, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77. Simon Property Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $100.17 and a 1-year high of $157.82.

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

Simon Property Group announced that its board has initiated a stock 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 purchase up to 4.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Simon Property Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $1.95 per share. This is a boost from Simon Property Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.90. This represents a $7.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Simon Property Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 111.75%.

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.