Short Interest in Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) Declines By 24.7%

Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 4,200,000 shares, a decline of 24.7% from the February 13th total of 5,580,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,480,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days. Currently, 1.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Simon Property Group Price Performance

Shares of SPG stock opened at $161.13 on Monday. Simon Property Group has a twelve month low of $139.25 and a twelve month high of $190.14. The stock has a market cap of $52.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.19, a PEG ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.78. The business’s fifty day moving average is $177.03 and its 200 day moving average is $174.48. The company has a quick ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.19.

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $1.70. Simon Property Group had a return on equity of 74.02% and a net margin of 41.49%. Research analysts expect that Simon Property Group will post 12.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Simon Property Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.21%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Simon Property Group’s dividend payout ratio is 115.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on SPG. Piper Sandler upgraded Simon Property Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $175.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Simon Property Group in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $195.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank set a $186.00 price objective on Simon Property Group in a research report on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com downgraded Simon Property Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Simon Property Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $179.00 to $198.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $180.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Reuben S. Leibowitz bought 465 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $168.59 per share, for a total transaction of $78,394.35. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 55,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,427,384.21. This represents a 0.84 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 8.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SPG. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Simon Property Group in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC grew its position in shares of Simon Property Group by 328.2% during the fourth quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 167 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Simon Property Group during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations purchased a new stake in shares of Simon Property Group during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Simon Property Group during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors own 93.01% of the company’s stock.

Simon Property Group Company Profile

Simon Property Group, Inc (NYSE:SPG) is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT). Simon Property Group, L.P., or the Operating Partnership, is our majority-owned partnership subsidiary that owns all of our real estate properties and other assets. In this package, the terms Simon, we, our, or the Company refer to Simon Property Group, Inc, the Operating Partnership, and its subsidiaries.