Kovack Advisors Inc. Invests $281,000 in Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG)

Kovack Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,967 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $281,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Simon Property Group by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,745,198 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $512,624,000 after purchasing an additional 86,778 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Simon Property Group by 1.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,465,010 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $374,325,000 after acquiring an additional 40,630 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Simon Property Group by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,409,189 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $260,265,000 after purchasing an additional 71,751 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Simon Property Group by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,128,104 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $229,897,000 after purchasing an additional 26,491 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of Simon Property Group by 5.9% in the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,887,122 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $203,866,000 after buying an additional 105,606 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on SPG shares. StockNews.com raised Simon Property Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Simon Property Group from $139.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Simon Property Group from $143.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Simon Property Group from $142.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.22.

Simon Property Group Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:SPG opened at $144.82 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.54, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77. Simon Property Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $100.17 and a 52-week high of $157.82. The company has a market capitalization of $47.20 billion, a PE ratio of 20.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.47 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a fifty day moving average of $148.94 and a 200-day moving average of $137.49.

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.34 by ($1.05). The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. Simon Property Group had a return on equity of 70.97% and a net margin of 42.30%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.15 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Simon Property Group, Inc. will post 12.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Simon Property Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $1.95 per share. This represents a $7.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.39%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Simon Property Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.90. Simon Property Group’s payout ratio is 111.75%.

Simon Property Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 8th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the real estate investment trust to repurchase up to 4.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.