Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) Shares Sold by Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.

Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) by 22.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,314 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 382 shares during the quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Simon Property Group were worth $187,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Signet Financial Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Simon Property Group in the 4th quarter valued at $1,567,000. Marino Stram & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Simon Property Group by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 6,202 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $885,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Simon Property Group by 29.8% in the 4th quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 5,331 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $760,000 after purchasing an additional 1,224 shares during the last quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Simon Property Group in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Simon Property Group in the 4th quarter valued at $222,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SPG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Simon Property Group from $143.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Simon Property Group from $144.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Simon Property Group from $139.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Simon Property Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.22.

Simon Property Group Stock Performance

Simon Property Group stock opened at $140.36 on Friday. Simon Property Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $100.17 and a 12-month high of $157.82. The company has a market capitalization of $45.74 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 has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.54, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $149.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $135.23.

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) last released 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 return on equity of 70.97% and a net margin of 42.30%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.38 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.15 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Simon Property Group, Inc. will post 12.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Simon Property Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $1.95 per share. This is an increase from Simon Property Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.90. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $7.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.56%. Simon Property Group’s payout ratio is 111.75%.

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

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.