Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) Raised to “Buy” at Jefferies Financial Group

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) was upgraded by investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $198.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their previous target price of $179.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective points to a potential upside of 12.46% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on SPG. Evercore ISI raised Simon Property Group from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $160.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Simon Property Group in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $195.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $159.00 price target (up from $157.50) on shares of Simon Property Group in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Simon Property Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Simon Property Group from $158.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Simon Property Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.10.

Simon Property Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SPG opened at $176.07 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $57.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.44, a PEG ratio of 10.50 and a beta of 1.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.20, a current ratio of 2.00 and a quick ratio of 2.00. Simon Property Group has a 12 month low of $135.15 and a 12 month high of $186.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $176.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $165.73.

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.00 by ($1.54). Simon Property Group had a net margin of 43.36% and a return on equity of 76.21%. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.20 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Simon Property Group will post 12.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Simon Property Group news, Director Reuben S. Leibowitz purchased 465 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $168.59 per share, with a total value of $78,394.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 55,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,427,384.21. This trade represents a 0.84 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 8.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Simon Property Group

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Simon Property Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $834,000. Red Cedar Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Simon Property Group by 153.2% in the 3rd quarter. Red Cedar Investment Management LLC now owns 17,591 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,973,000 after purchasing an additional 10,644 shares during the last quarter. TTP Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Simon Property Group by 42.0% during the 3rd quarter. TTP Investments Inc. now owns 34,290 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,796,000 after purchasing an additional 10,147 shares in the last quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV bought a new position in Simon Property Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $630,000. Finally, Radnor Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Simon Property Group in the third quarter valued at about $1,602,000. 93.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Simon Property Group

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.