Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,200,000 shares, an increase of 23.8% from the February 28th total of 4,200,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,530,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days. Currently, 1.6% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Pitcairn Co. raised its position in Simon Property Group by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 9,895 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,704,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC raised its holdings in shares of Simon Property Group by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 209 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Simon Property Group by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,689 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Simon Property Group by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 655 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighPoint Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Simon Property Group by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,396 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $626,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. 93.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho boosted their price target on Simon Property Group from $158.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Simon Property Group in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $195.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler upgraded Simon Property Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $175.00 to $205.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of Simon Property Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Scotiabank set a $186.00 target price on shares of Simon Property Group in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $180.33.

Simon Property Group Stock Up 2.5 %

Simon Property Group stock traded up $4.11 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $170.58. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,416,786 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,444,174. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.19, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 2.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.50, a PEG ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.78. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $175.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $174.56. Simon Property Group has a 52-week low of $139.25 and a 52-week high of $190.14.

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $1.70. Simon Property Group had a net margin of 41.49% and a return on equity of 74.02%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Simon Property Group will post 12.54 EPS for the current year.

Simon Property Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.92%. Simon Property Group’s payout ratio is presently 115.70%.

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.