Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) Shares Acquired by Wedmont Private Capital

Wedmont Private Capital lifted its position in shares of Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) by 5.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,150 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Simon Property Group were worth $919,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Simon Property Group in the fourth quarter valued at $2,561,181,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Simon Property Group by 1.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,380,446 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,258,076,000 after purchasing an additional 672,941 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Simon Property Group by 11,722.9% during the fourth quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 672,724 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $95,957,000 after purchasing an additional 667,034 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Simon Property Group by 160.1% during the fourth quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 763,371 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $108,887,000 after purchasing an additional 469,855 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Simon Property Group by 134.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 563,825 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $80,424,000 after purchasing an additional 323,168 shares during the period. 93.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Simon Property Group from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Scotiabank upped their price target 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Simon Property Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Argus increased their target price 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, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Simon Property Group from $152.00 to $157.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $153.50.

Simon Property Group Trading Up 1.7 %

SPG stock traded up $2.53 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $155.63. 627,898 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,467,708. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.53. Simon Property Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $102.11 and a 52-week high of $159.73. The company has a market cap of $50.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.71, a P/E/G ratio of 8.69 and a beta of 1.75. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $150.92 and its 200-day moving average is $148.58.

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by ($1.42). Simon Property Group had a net margin of 45.90% and a return on equity of 78.14%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.88 earnings per share. Simon Property Group’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Simon Property Group, Inc. will post 12.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Simon Property Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a $2.05 dividend. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.27%. This is a positive change from Simon Property Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. Simon Property Group’s dividend payout ratio is 101.91%.

Insider Transactions at Simon Property Group

In other news, Director Reuben S. Leibowitz acquired 486 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 28th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $150.17 per share, for a total transaction of $72,982.62. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 55,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,259,500.17. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 8.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.