Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG - Free Report) by 19.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,719,797 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 408,307 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.53% of Simon Property Group worth $245,312,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SPG. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Simon Property Group by 16.6% during the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 360,116 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $38,903,000 after purchasing an additional 51,380 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Simon Property Group by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 152,740 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $21,923,000 after buying an additional 6,703 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Simon Property Group by 121.5% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 32,003 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $4,565,000 after buying an additional 17,552 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Simon Property Group in the 4th quarter worth $238,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Simon Property Group by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 81,813 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $11,670,000 after acquiring an additional 7,250 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on SPG. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Simon Property Group from $142.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Simon Property Group from $139.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Simon Property Group from $143.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded 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 given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Simon Property Group has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $140.22.

Simon Property Group Stock Performance

NYSE:SPG traded down $1.41 on Friday, hitting $147.72. The stock had a trading volume of 1,305,360 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,355,764. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $148.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $139.64. The stock has a market cap of $48.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.65 and a beta of 1.68. Simon Property Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $100.17 and a 52-week high of $157.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.20.

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.80 by ($0.55). The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Simon Property Group had a return on equity of 78.50% and a net margin of 46.49%. Simon Property Group's revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.74 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Simon Property Group, Inc. will post 12.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Simon Property Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $2.00 per share. This represents a $8.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.42%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This is a positive change from Simon Property Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.95. Simon Property Group's payout ratio is currently 99.36%.

Simon Property Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 8th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the real estate investment trust to repurchase up to 4.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Simon Property Group 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.