Lafayette Investments Inc. Reduces Stake in Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG)

Lafayette Investments Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,025 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in Simon Property Group were worth $349,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pitcairn Co. raised its stake in Simon Property Group by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 9,895 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,704,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Simon Property Group by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,689 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Simon Property Group by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 655 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in Simon Property Group by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,396 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $626,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Simon Property Group by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 6,237 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,074,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. 93.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Simon Property Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $168.50 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler raised Simon Property Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $175.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Simon Property Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Simon Property Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $179.00 to $198.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Simon Property Group in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $195.00 price objective on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Simon Property Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.39.

Simon Property Group Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of SPG opened at $149.89 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $169.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $173.17. Simon Property Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $136.34 and a 12 month high of $190.14. The firm has a market cap of $48.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.65, a PEG ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.19.

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $1.70. Simon Property Group had a return on equity of 74.02% and a net margin of 41.49%. Analysts predict that Simon Property Group, Inc. will post 12.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Simon Property Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.60%. Simon Property Group’s payout ratio is 115.70%.

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.