Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Cuts Stock Holdings in Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lowered its stake in shares of Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) by 2.0% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,432,404 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 88,877 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD’s holdings in Simon Property Group were worth $693,629,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in SPG. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Simon Property Group by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 255,743 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,479,000 after acquiring an additional 22,600 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Simon Property Group by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 59,141 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,436,000 after purchasing an additional 755 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Simon Property Group by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 21,588 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,079,000 after acquiring an additional 962 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Simon Property Group in the 4th quarter worth about $239,000. Finally, Schechter Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Simon Property Group by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,403 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $485,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.01% of the company’s stock.

Simon Property Group Stock Performance

Shares of Simon Property Group stock traded down $0.73 on Monday, reaching $151.72. The stock had a trading volume of 126,997 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,465,746. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $149.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $147.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.20, a quick ratio of 2.19 and a current ratio of 2.19. Simon Property Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $102.11 and a fifty-two week high of $158.50. The stock has a market cap of $49.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.86 and a beta of 1.75.

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80 by ($0.55). Simon Property Group had a return on equity of 78.50% and a net margin of 46.49%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.74 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Simon Property Group, Inc. will post 12.84 EPS for the current year.

Simon Property Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a $2.00 dividend. This represents a $8.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.27%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This is a positive change from Simon Property Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.95. Simon Property Group’s payout ratio is 101.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Simon Property Group

In other Simon Property Group news, Director Reuben S. Leibowitz purchased 486 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 28th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $150.17 per share, with a total value of $72,982.62. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 55,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,259,500.17. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 8.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SPG. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Simon Property Group from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Simon Property Group from $157.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Simon Property Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.89.

About Simon Property Group

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.