New York State Common Retirement Fund Cuts Holdings in Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG)

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its position in Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) by 13.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 261,501 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 40,270 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.08% of Simon Property Group worth $37,301,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cascade Investment Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Simon Property Group by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc. now owns 14,701 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,097,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Simon Property Group by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 563 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Simon Property Group by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,403 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $485,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Simon Property Group by 1.9% during the third quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 4,583 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Simon Property Group by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 9,600 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,369,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. 93.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SPG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Simon Property Group from $142.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. StockNews.com raised Simon Property Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Simon Property Group from $143.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on Simon Property Group from $139.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.22.

Simon Property Group Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of Simon Property Group stock opened at $142.82 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.54. The firm has a market cap of $46.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.46, a P/E/G ratio of 7.54 and a beta of 1.65. Simon Property Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $100.17 and a fifty-two week high of $157.82. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $149.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $136.51.

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.34 by ($1.05). The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. Simon Property Group had a net margin of 42.30% and a return on equity of 70.97%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.15 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Simon Property Group, Inc. will post 12.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Simon Property Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $1.95 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Simon Property Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.90. This represents a $7.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.46%. Simon Property Group’s dividend payout ratio is 111.75%.

Simon Property Group declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 8th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the real estate investment trust to purchase up to 4.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.