Ballentine Partners LLC Raises Stake in Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG)

Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) by 8.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,751 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 455 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Simon Property Group were worth $955,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SPG. Park Square Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Simon Property Group by 108.0% in the first quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC now owns 156 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations purchased a new stake in Simon Property Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Simon Property Group by 421.6% in the first quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 193 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Simon Property Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 57 shares during the period. 93.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SPG has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Simon Property Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 29th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Simon Property Group from $182.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Simon Property Group from $192.00 to $180.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Barclays began coverage on shares of Simon Property Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $170.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Simon Property Group from $168.50 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Simon Property Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $178.50.

Insider Activity at Simon Property Group

In other Simon Property Group news, Director Stefan M. Selig bought 219 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $159.29 per share, with a total value of $34,884.51. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 31,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,078,324.49. This trade represents a 0.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Glyn Aeppel bought 234 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $159.29 per share, for a total transaction of $37,273.86. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 19,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,035,589.53. This trade represents a 1.24% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired 2,386 shares of company stock valued at $380,066 in the last ninety days. 8.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Simon Property Group Trading Down 1.1%

SPG opened at $161.69 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.78 billion, a PE ratio of 25.75, a P/E/G ratio of 9.02 and a beta of 1.43. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $161.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $166.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.29, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.45. Simon Property Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $136.34 and a 12-month high of $190.14.

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. Simon Property Group had a net margin of 35.98% and a return on equity of 67.32%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.56 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Simon Property Group, Inc. will post 12.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Simon Property Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.20%. Simon Property Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 133.76%.

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.