Shell Asset Management Co. Buys 868 Shares of Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG)

Shell Asset Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) by 36.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,241 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 868 shares during the period. Shell Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Simon Property Group were worth $507,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Payden & Rygel Investment Group bought a new position in Simon Property Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $10,618,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in Simon Property Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,000. Castle Hook Partners LP boosted its holdings in Simon Property Group by 182.0% in the 1st quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 480,692 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $75,223,000 after buying an additional 310,207 shares during the period. Natixis boosted its holdings in Simon Property Group by 14.9% in the 1st quarter. Natixis now owns 33,365 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,221,000 after buying an additional 4,319 shares during the period. Finally, InterOcean Capital Group LLC bought a new position in Simon Property Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $219,000. 93.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on SPG shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Simon Property Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Simon Property Group from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, Argus increased their target price on shares of Simon Property Group from $157.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.89.

Simon Property Group Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE:SPG traded up $2.81 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $152.12. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 177,703 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,469,131. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.02, a PEG ratio of 8.71 and a beta of 1.75. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $149.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $147.67. Simon Property Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $102.11 and a 1 year high of $158.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.20, a quick ratio of 2.19 and a current ratio of 2.19.

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80 by ($0.55). The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.74 EPS. Research analysts expect that Simon Property Group, Inc. will post 12.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Simon Property Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were given a $2.00 dividend. This represents a $8.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This is a boost from Simon Property Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.95. Simon Property Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Reuben S. Leibowitz purchased 486 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 28th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $150.17 per share, with a total value of $72,982.62. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 55,001 shares in the company, valued at $8,259,500.17. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 8.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.