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

Opinicus Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,455 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $493,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake 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 valued at $236,153,000 after purchasing an additional 114,653 shares during the period. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Simon Property Group in the fourth quarter worth $209,000. Kovack Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Simon Property Group in the fourth quarter worth $281,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its stake in shares of Simon Property Group by 5.9% in 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 bought a new stake in shares of Simon Property Group in the fourth quarter worth $217,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Simon Property Group Stock Performance

Shares of SPG traded down $0.37 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $142.36. 1,026,159 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,112,382. Simon Property Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $100.17 and a 1-year high of $157.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.40 billion, a PE ratio of 20.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.49 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.54, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $149.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $136.81.

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

Simon Property Group Increases Dividend

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

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

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.