Blue Trust Inc. Acquires 1,260 Shares of Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG)

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) by 29.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,598 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 1,260 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Simon Property Group were worth $946,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SPG. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Simon Property Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Simon Property Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Simon Property Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Simon Property Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $52,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Simon Property Group by 107.5% during the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 413 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SPG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho boosted their target price on Simon Property Group from $158.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Simon Property Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $179.00 to $198.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded Simon Property Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Simon Property Group in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $195.00 price target for the company. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.10.

Simon Property Group Price Performance

Simon Property Group stock opened at $175.58 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.20, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a current ratio of 2.00. Simon Property Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.15 and a 52 week high of $186.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.26 and a beta of 1.75. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $176.61 and a 200-day moving average of $169.12.

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by ($1.54). Simon Property Group had a return on equity of 76.21% and a net margin of 43.36%. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.20 EPS. Simon Property Group’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Simon Property Group, Inc. will post 12.72 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 Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This is a boost from Simon Property Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.05. Simon Property Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 111.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Reuben S. Leibowitz bought 465 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $168.59 per share, with a total value of $78,394.35. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 55,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,427,384.21. This trade represents a 0.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 8.50% of the company’s stock.

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.