Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Cuts Stake in Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG)

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co trimmed its position in shares of Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 95,449 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 7,251 shares during the quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Simon Property Group were worth $14,489,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Simon Property Group by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,380,446 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,258,076,000 after purchasing an additional 672,941 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Simon Property Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,561,181,000. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Simon Property Group by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,321,228 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $363,165,000 after acquiring an additional 92,648 shares during the last quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Simon Property Group by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 1,814,206 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $283,905,000 after acquiring an additional 78,866 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PGGM Investments boosted its holdings in shares of Simon Property Group by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 1,238,123 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $187,947,000 after acquiring an additional 23,186 shares during the last quarter. 93.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SPG. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Simon Property Group from $152.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Argus raised their price target on shares of Simon Property Group from $157.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Simon Property Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Simon Property Group from $152.00 to $157.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective (down previously from $190.00) on shares of Simon Property Group in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $161.28.

Simon Property Group Stock Performance

SPG opened at $164.50 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.53. The company has a market cap of $53.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.96, a PEG ratio of 9.01 and a beta of 1.74. The company’s 50 day moving average is $155.87 and its 200 day moving average is $151.15. Simon Property Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $102.11 and a 12-month high of $169.18.

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 78.14% and a net margin of 45.90%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.88 EPS. Simon Property Group’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Simon Property Group, Inc. will post 12.85 EPS for the current year.

Simon Property Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $2.05 per share. This is a boost from Simon Property Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.00. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.98%. Simon Property Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.