Merit Financial Group LLC Sells 383 Shares of Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG)

Merit Financial Group LLC lowered its position in shares of Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,591 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 383 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Simon Property Group were worth $370,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Simon Property Group by 1.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,745,198 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $512,624,000 after purchasing an additional 86,778 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Simon Property Group by 1.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,465,010 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $374,325,000 after purchasing an additional 40,630 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Simon Property Group by 3.1% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,409,189 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $260,265,000 after purchasing an additional 71,751 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Simon Property Group by 1.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,128,104 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $229,897,000 after purchasing an additional 26,491 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Simon Property Group by 5.9% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,887,122 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $203,866,000 after purchasing an additional 105,606 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SPG shares. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Simon Property Group from $142.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Simon Property Group from $139.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Simon Property Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Simon Property Group from $143.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Simon Property Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.22.

Simon Property Group Stock Performance

Shares of SPG stock opened at $147.88 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $148.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $138.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.54. The firm has a market cap of $48.19 billion, a PE ratio of 21.19, a P/E/G ratio of 7.50 and a beta of 1.68. Simon Property Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $100.17 and a 12 month high of $157.82.

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.80 by ($0.55). Simon Property Group had a return on equity of 70.97% and a net margin of 42.30%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.74 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Simon Property Group, Inc. will post 12.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Simon Property Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 8th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the real estate investment trust to repurchase up to 4.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Simon Property Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $2.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $8.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.41%. This is a positive change from Simon Property Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.95. Simon Property Group’s dividend payout ratio is 111.75%.

Simon Property Group Company 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.