Vicus Capital Raises Stake in Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG)

Vicus Capital increased its stake in Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) by 11.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,061 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the quarter. Vicus Capital’s holdings in Simon Property Group were worth $323,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SPG. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Simon Property Group by 45.6% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 16,433 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,775,000 after purchasing an additional 5,150 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Simon Property Group during the third quarter worth about $972,000. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its position in Simon Property Group by 15.0% during the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 30,334 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,277,000 after acquiring an additional 3,956 shares during the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its position in Simon Property Group by 8.2% during the third quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 21,519 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,325,000 after acquiring an additional 1,631 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Insigneo Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Simon Property Group by 51.1% during the third quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,228 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $565,000 after acquiring an additional 1,767 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.01% of the company’s stock.

Simon Property Group Price Performance

SPG opened at $151.80 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.20. Simon Property Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $102.11 and a 52-week high of $157.82. The company has a 50 day moving average of $147.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $146.72. The company has a market cap of $49.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.34, a P/E/G ratio of 9.02 and a beta of 1.71.

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.74 earnings per share. Simon Property Group’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Simon Property Group, Inc. will post 12.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Simon Property Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were given a dividend of $2.00 per share. This is a boost from Simon Property Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.95. This represents a $8.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.27%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. Simon Property Group’s payout ratio is presently 101.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SPG. Truist Financial lifted their target price 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. Scotiabank lifted their target price 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 boosted their price objective on shares of Simon Property Group from $157.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Simon Property Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.60.

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.