Franklin Resources Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG)

Franklin Resources Inc. decreased its position in shares of Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) by 0.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 819,921 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 6,421 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Simon Property Group were worth $140,756,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Synovus Financial Corp raised its position in Simon Property Group by 50.7% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 2,607 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $440,000 after acquiring an additional 877 shares during the period. Blankinship & Foster LLC bought a new position in Simon Property Group in the third quarter worth approximately $608,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Simon Property Group in the third quarter worth approximately $834,000. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Simon Property Group by 17.3% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,534 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $597,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in Simon Property Group by 19.4% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 39,783 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,206,000 after acquiring an additional 6,475 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.01% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Simon Property Group news, Director Allan B. Hubbard acquired 370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $167.30 per share, with a total value of $61,901.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 34,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,738,557.30. This represents a 1.09 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 8.50% of the company’s stock.

Simon Property Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SPG opened at $179.60 on Monday. Simon Property Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.15 and a 52 week high of $186.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.91, a PEG ratio of 10.50 and a beta of 1.75. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $176.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $163.79. The company has a quick ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.20.

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by ($1.54). Simon Property Group had a return on equity of 76.21% and a net margin of 43.36%. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.20 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Simon Property Group, Inc. will post 12.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Simon Property Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $2.10 dividend. This is a boost from Simon Property Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.05. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.68%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Simon Property Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 111.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on SPG shares. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Simon Property Group from $158.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Simon Property Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “hold” rating and set a $159.00 price objective (up from $157.50) on shares of Simon Property Group in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Simon Property Group from $152.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $175.00 price target (down from $190.00) on shares of Simon Property Group in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Simon Property Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $165.44.

About Simon Property Group

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.