First Trust Advisors LP Buys 27,650 Shares of Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG)

First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) by 23.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 143,564 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,650 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Simon Property Group were worth $24,723,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Simon Property Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC lifted its stake in Simon Property Group by 328.2% during the fourth quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 167 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Simon Property Group in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations bought a new position in shares of Simon Property Group in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of Simon Property Group in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SPG shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Simon Property Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Simon Property Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $179.00 to $198.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Piper Sandler upgraded Simon Property Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $175.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Simon Property Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $168.50 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on Simon Property Group from $186.00 to $159.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.39.

Simon Property Group Price Performance

Simon Property Group stock opened at $156.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.19, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 2.00. Simon Property Group, Inc. has a one year low of $136.34 and a one year high of $190.14. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $163.73 and its 200 day moving average is $172.05. The firm has a market cap of $51.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.58, a P/E/G ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.45.

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 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Simon Property Group, Inc. will post 12.54 EPS for the current year.

Simon Property Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.36%. Simon Property Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.