Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Raises Position in Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 306,179 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,485 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Simon Property Group were worth $43,673,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Simon Property Group by 10.4% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,144,366 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $910,337,000 after purchasing an additional 765,146 shares in the last quarter. Cowa LLC bought a new position in shares of Simon Property Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $107,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Simon Property Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $807,887,000. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Simon Property Group by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,500,305 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $763,656,000 after purchasing an additional 421,554 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Simon Property Group by 1.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,745,198 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $512,624,000 after purchasing an additional 86,778 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SPG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Simon Property Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Simon Property Group from $139.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Simon Property Group from $148.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Simon Property Group from $144.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Simon Property Group from $143.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.22.

Simon Property Group Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of SPG stock opened at $140.35 on Wednesday. Simon Property Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $100.17 and a 12-month high of $157.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.54. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $149.61 and its 200 day moving average is $135.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.11, a P/E/G ratio of 7.47 and a beta of 1.65.

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.34 by ($1.05). Simon Property Group had a return on equity of 70.97% and a net margin of 42.30%. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.15 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Simon Property Group, Inc. will post 12.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Simon Property Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $1.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $7.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.56%. This is a boost from Simon Property Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.90. Simon Property Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 111.75%.

Simon Property Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 8th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the real estate investment trust to reacquire up to 4.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Simon Property Group Company 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.