Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) Rating Increased to Buy at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $198.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $179.00.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on SPG. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $159.00 target price (up from $157.50) on shares of Simon Property Group in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Simon Property Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Simon Property Group from $158.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Simon Property Group in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $195.00 price target for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Simon Property Group from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Simon Property Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.10.

Simon Property Group Price Performance

Shares of Simon Property Group stock opened at $173.53 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $176.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $165.73. Simon Property Group has a fifty-two week low of $135.15 and a fifty-two week high of $186.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.20, a current ratio of 2.00 and a quick ratio of 2.00. The company has a market cap of $56.62 billion, a PE ratio of 23.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.50 and a beta of 1.75.

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.00 by ($1.54). The company had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. Simon Property Group had a net margin of 43.36% and a return on equity of 76.21%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.20 EPS. Analysts expect that Simon Property Group will post 12.76 EPS for the current year.

Simon Property Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This is a positive change from Simon Property Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.05. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.84%. Simon Property Group’s dividend payout ratio is 111.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Simon Property Group

In related news, Director Reuben S. Leibowitz acquired 465 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were purchased 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 $9,427,384.21. The trade was a 0.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 8.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Simon Property Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Simon Property Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $834,000. Red Cedar Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Simon Property Group by 153.2% in the 3rd quarter. Red Cedar Investment Management LLC now owns 17,591 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,973,000 after buying an additional 10,644 shares during the last quarter. TTP Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Simon Property Group by 42.0% in the 3rd quarter. TTP Investments Inc. now owns 34,290 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,796,000 after buying an additional 10,147 shares during the period. Forte Capital LLC ADV bought a new stake in shares of Simon Property Group during the third quarter worth $630,000. Finally, Radnor Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Simon Property Group during the third quarter worth $1,602,000. 93.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Simon Property Group Company 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.