Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) Shares Sold by Lafayette Investments Inc.

Lafayette Investments Inc. lowered its stake in Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) by 12.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,125 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in Simon Property Group were worth $303,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Simon Property Group Price Performance

Shares of SPG stock traded up $0.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $140.58. 230,310 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,488,490. Simon Property Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $100.17 and a twelve month high of $157.82. The firm has a market cap of $45.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.39 and a beta of 1.65. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $149.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $135.23. 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 (NYSE:SPG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.34 by ($1.05). Simon Property Group had a net margin of 42.30% and a return on equity of 70.97%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $1.95 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is a boost from Simon Property Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.90. This represents a $7.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.55%. Simon Property Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 111.75%.

Simon Property Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, February 8th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the real estate investment trust to repurchase up to 4.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Simon Property Group from $143.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Truist Financial increased their price target on 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 target on Simon Property Group from $144.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. StockNews.com raised Simon Property Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, February 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Simon Property Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.22.

Simon Property Group 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.