Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Grows Position in Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,343 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Simon Property Group were worth $1,092,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of SPG. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Simon Property Group by 617.5% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,191,296 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $539,393,000 after buying an additional 2,746,503 shares in the last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Simon Property Group by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,620,355 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $442,892,000 after acquiring an additional 88,378 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in Simon Property Group by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,487,897 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $251,484,000 after acquiring an additional 25,519 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Simon Property Group by 373.6% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,259,648 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $212,906,000 after purchasing an additional 993,694 shares during the period. Finally, Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Simon Property Group by 6.9% during the third quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 1,142,010 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $193,023,000 after purchasing an additional 73,742 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.01% of the company’s stock.

Simon Property Group Stock Performance

Shares of Simon Property Group stock opened at $172.98 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.20. Simon Property Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.15 and a 52 week high of $186.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $177.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $167.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.03, a P/E/G ratio of 10.50 and a beta of 1.75.

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by ($1.54). Simon Property Group had a net margin of 43.36% and a return on equity of 76.21%. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.32 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.20 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Simon Property Group, Inc. will post 12.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Simon Property Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $2.10 dividend. This is an increase from Simon Property Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.05. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.86%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. Simon Property Group’s payout ratio is presently 111.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on SPG shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Simon Property Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $179.00 to $198.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Simon Property Group in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $195.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho lifted their target price on Simon Property Group from $158.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Simon Property Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Simon Property Group from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Simon Property Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.10.

Insider Activity at Simon Property Group

In other Simon Property Group news, Director Reuben S. Leibowitz purchased 465 shares of Simon Property Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $168.59 per share, for a total transaction of $78,394.35. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 55,919 shares in the company, valued at $9,427,384.21. This trade represents a 0.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 8.50% of the company’s stock.

About Simon Property Group

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.