Opinicus Capital Inc. Invests $493,000 in Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG)

Opinicus Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 3,455 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $493,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Simon Property Group by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,653,052 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $236,153,000 after buying an additional 114,653 shares during the last quarter. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Simon Property Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $209,000. Kovack Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Simon Property Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $281,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its holdings in shares of Simon Property Group by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 4,209 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $600,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abbrea Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Simon Property Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $217,000. 93.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Simon Property Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SPG traded down $0.37 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $142.36. 1,026,159 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,112,382. The firm has a market cap of $46.40 billion, a PE ratio of 20.40, a PEG ratio of 7.49 and a beta of 1.65. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $149.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.81. Simon Property Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $100.17 and a 12 month high of $157.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.54, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77.

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.34 by ($1.05). The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. Simon Property Group had a net margin of 42.30% and a return on equity of 70.97%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.15 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Simon Property Group, Inc. will post 12.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Simon Property Group declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 8th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the real estate investment trust to purchase up to 4.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Simon Property Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $1.95 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This is a boost from Simon Property Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.90. This represents a $7.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.48%. Simon Property Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 111.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Simon Property Group 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.