Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) Short Interest Down 24.7% in February

Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 4,200,000 shares, a decline of 24.7% from the February 13th total of 5,580,000 shares. Currently, 1.3% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,480,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SPG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Simon Property Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $179.00 to $198.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Simon Property Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 8th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Simon Property Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $175.00 to $205.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Simon Property Group from $158.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Scotiabank set a $186.00 price objective on shares of Simon Property Group in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $180.33.

Insider Transactions at Simon Property Group

In other news, Director Reuben S. Leibowitz purchased 465 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $168.59 per share, for a total transaction of $78,394.35. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 55,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,427,384.21. This represents a 0.84 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 8.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Simon Property Group by 3.9% during the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,615 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $273,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Simon Property Group by 6.0% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 227,776 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,499,000 after acquiring an additional 12,854 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Simon Property Group by 3.0% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,509 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,100,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Simon Property Group by 3.4% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 45,308 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,658,000 after acquiring an additional 1,506 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Simon Property Group by 17.2% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 43,810 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,405,000 after acquiring an additional 6,437 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.01% of the company’s stock.

Simon Property Group Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of Simon Property Group stock opened at $164.70 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $176.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $174.47. The company has a market cap of $53.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.69, a PEG ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.19. Simon Property Group has a 12-month low of $139.25 and a 12-month high of $190.14.

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $1.70. Simon Property Group had a net margin of 41.49% and a return on equity of 74.02%. Research analysts anticipate that Simon Property Group will post 12.54 EPS for the current year.

Simon Property Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.10%. Simon Property Group’s payout ratio is currently 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.