Reuben S. Leibowitz Acquires 465 Shares of Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) Stock

Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) Director Reuben S. Leibowitz purchased 465 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $168.59 per share, with a total value of $78,394.35. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Simon Property Group Stock Performance

Simon Property Group stock traded up $0.39 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $172.60. The company had a trading volume of 396,500 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,453,008. Simon Property Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.15 and a 52 week high of $186.00. The firm has a market cap of $56.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.98, a PEG ratio of 10.50 and a beta of 1.75. The company has a 50 day moving average of $176.96 and a 200-day moving average of $165.68. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. Simon Property Group had a return on equity of 76.21% and a net margin of 43.36%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.20 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Simon Property Group, Inc. will post 12.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Simon Property Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.87%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. Simon Property Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 111.85%.

Institutional Trading of Simon Property Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SPG. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in shares of Simon Property Group in the 3rd quarter worth $1,144,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. boosted its holdings in Simon Property Group by 8.7% during the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 12,500 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,113,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Simon Property Group by 50.7% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 2,607 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $440,000 after buying an additional 877 shares during the period. Blankinship & Foster LLC acquired a new position in Simon Property Group in the third quarter valued at about $608,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Simon Property Group during the third quarter worth about $834,000. 93.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on SPG shares. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Simon Property Group from $158.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Simon Property Group from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $160.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of 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. StockNews.com downgraded Simon Property Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Simon Property Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $179.00 to $198.00 in a report on Thursday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.10.

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.