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

Retirement Systems of Alabama cut its stake in shares of Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG - Free Report) by 14.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm 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 about 0.15% of Simon Property Group worth $69,584,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Simon Property Group by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,745,198 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $512,624,000 after acquiring an additional 86,778 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Simon Property Group by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,465,010 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $374,325,000 after acquiring an additional 40,630 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Simon Property Group by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,409,189 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $260,265,000 after acquiring an additional 71,751 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Simon Property Group by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,128,104 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $229,897,000 after acquiring an additional 26,491 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Simon Property Group by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,887,122 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $203,866,000 after acquiring an additional 105,606 shares during the last quarter. 93.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Simon Property Group Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of SPG stock traded down $0.37 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $142.36. 1,026,159 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,112,382. The firm has a market cap of $46.40 billion, a PE ratio of 20.40, a PEG ratio of 7.47 and a beta of 1.65. Simon Property Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $100.17 and a 1 year high of $157.82. 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 fifty day moving average of $149.04 and a 200 day moving average of $137.23.

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG - Get Free Report) 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 company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.38 billion. Simon Property Group had a return on equity of 70.97% and a net margin of 42.30%. The company's revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.15 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Simon Property Group, Inc. will post 12.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Simon Property Group declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan 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 plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Simon Property Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $1.95 dividend. This is a positive change from Simon Property Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.90. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $7.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.48%. Simon Property Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 111.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on SPG. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Simon Property Group from $142.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Simon Property Group from $139.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Simon Property Group from $143.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Simon Property Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Simon Property Group has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.