Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) Shares Purchased by iA Global Asset Management Inc.

iA Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) by 29.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,767 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,195 shares during the quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Simon Property Group were worth $1,528,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Simon Property Group by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,380,446 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,258,076,000 after purchasing an additional 672,941 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Simon Property Group during the 4th quarter worth $2,561,181,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Simon Property Group by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,537,655 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $504,611,000 after purchasing an additional 72,645 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Simon Property Group by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,228,580 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $317,881,000 after acquiring an additional 183,702 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centersquare Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Simon Property Group by 4.5% in the first quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 1,814,206 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $283,905,000 after acquiring an additional 78,866 shares in the last quarter. 93.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SPG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Argus lifted their target price on shares of Simon Property Group from $157.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Simon Property Group from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Simon Property Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Simon Property Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.89.

Simon Property Group Trading Down 2.4 %

Simon Property Group stock traded down $3.74 during trading on Friday, reaching $149.70. The company had a trading volume of 550,740 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,461,333. Simon Property Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $102.11 and a 12-month high of $158.50. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $150.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $147.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.21, a PEG ratio of 8.92 and a beta of 1.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.20, a quick ratio of 2.19 and a current ratio of 2.19.

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. As a group, equities analysts expect that Simon Property Group, Inc. will post 12.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 5.34%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. Simon Property Group’s payout ratio is presently 101.91%.

Insider Transactions at Simon Property Group

In other news, Director Reuben S. Leibowitz bought 486 shares of Simon Property Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $150.17 per share, with a total value of $72,982.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 55,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,259,500.17. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 8.50% of the company’s stock.

Simon Property Group Profile

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.