Simon Property Group, Inc. $SPG Shares Acquired by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) by 32.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 10,459 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,542 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Simon Property Group were worth $1,936,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in SPG. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Simon Property Group during the fourth quarter valued at $295,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Simon Property Group by 316.2% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 19,787 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,181,000 after acquiring an additional 15,033 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Simon Property Group by 80.1% during the second quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 16,881 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,714,000 after acquiring an additional 7,506 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Simon Property Group by 1.7% during the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 35,740 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,745,000 after acquiring an additional 598 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Simon Property Group by 13.4% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 28,444 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,573,000 after acquiring an additional 3,372 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on SPG. Citigroup increased their price objective on Simon Property Group from $185.00 to $189.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Simon Property Group from $198.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Simon Property Group from $189.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Simon Property Group from $184.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Evercore increased their target price on Simon Property Group from $188.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $200.14.

Simon Property Group Stock Performance

NYSE SPG opened at $204.81 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $194.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $187.41. Simon Property Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $148.00 and a twelve month high of $208.28. The company has a market capitalization of $66.55 billion, a PE ratio of 14.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.83 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.42.

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The real estate investment trust reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.02. Simon Property Group had a return on equity of 124.12% and a net margin of 72.71%.The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Simon Property Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.000-13.250 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Simon Property Group, Inc. will post 13.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Simon Property Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were issued a $2.20 dividend. This represents a $8.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 10th. Simon Property Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.06%.

Simon Property Group announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, February 5th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the real estate investment trust to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

About Simon Property Group

Simon Property Group, Inc (NYSE: SPG) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, develops and manages retail real estate properties. Its core business activities include acquisition, development, leasing and property management of regional malls, outlet centers and mixed?use retail destinations. The company operates retail brands that include high?profile regional shopping centers and the Premium Outlets platform, and it provides services such as tenant leasing, marketing, property operations and capital projects to optimize asset performance.

Simon’s portfolio spans a broad mix of enclosed malls, open?air centers, outlet properties and mixed?use developments, and the company pursues redevelopment and repositioning to adapt properties to changing consumer and retail trends.