Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 81,479 Shares of Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lessened its stake in shares of Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) by 14.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 487,829 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 81,479 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned approximately 0.15% of Simon Property Group worth $69,584,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Northern Trust Corp grew 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 worth $512,624,000 after buying an additional 86,778 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Simon Property Group by 1.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,465,010 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $374,325,000 after purchasing an additional 40,630 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Simon Property Group by 3.1% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,409,189 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $260,265,000 after purchasing an additional 71,751 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Simon Property Group by 1.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,128,104 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $229,897,000 after purchasing an additional 26,491 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Simon Property Group by 5.9% in the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,887,122 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $203,866,000 after purchasing an additional 105,606 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.01% of the company’s stock.

Simon Property Group Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE SPG traded down $0.37 during trading on Friday, hitting $142.36. 1,026,159 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,112,382. The business’s fifty day moving average is $149.04 and its 200 day moving average is $137.02. Simon Property Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $100.17 and a fifty-two week high of $157.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.40, a P/E/G ratio of 7.47 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.54, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77.

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). Simon Property Group had a net margin of 42.30% and a return on equity of 70.97%. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.15 EPS. Simon Property Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Simon Property Group, Inc. will post 12.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Simon Property Group Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $7.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.48%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Simon Property Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.90. Simon Property Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 111.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.