Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Trims Position in Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. reduced its holdings in Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,401 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 159 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Simon Property Group were worth $758,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Simon Property Group in the third quarter valued at $834,000. First Hawaiian Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Simon Property Group by 35.0% in the 4th quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 5,294 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $912,000 after buying an additional 1,372 shares during the period. Red Cedar Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Simon Property Group by 153.2% in the third quarter. Red Cedar Investment Management LLC now owns 17,591 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,973,000 after buying an additional 10,644 shares during the last quarter. TTP Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Simon Property Group by 42.0% during the third quarter. TTP Investments Inc. now owns 34,290 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,796,000 after acquiring an additional 10,147 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Simon Property Group by 72.8% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 999 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $172,000 after acquiring an additional 421 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on SPG shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Simon Property Group in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $195.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Simon Property Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $179.00 to $198.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Mizuho lifted their price target on Simon Property Group from $158.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Simon Property Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Simon Property Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.10.

Simon Property Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SPG opened at $173.86 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.20, a current ratio of 2.00 and a quick ratio of 2.00. Simon Property Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.15 and a 1 year high of $186.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.73 billion, a PE ratio of 23.15, a P/E/G ratio of 9.26 and a beta of 1.75. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $176.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $169.30.

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.00 by ($1.54). The business had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. Simon Property Group had a return on equity of 76.21% and a net margin of 43.36%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.20 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Simon Property Group, Inc. will post 12.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Simon Property Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $2.10 dividend. This is an increase from Simon Property Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.83%. Simon Property Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 111.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Reuben S. Leibowitz purchased 465 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $168.59 per share, for a total transaction of $78,394.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 55,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,427,384.21. This trade 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 is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 8.50% of the company’s stock.

Simon Property Group 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.