Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) Raised to Buy at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $198.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $179.00.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on SPG. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Simon Property Group from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $160.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com cut shares of Simon Property Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Simon Property Group from $158.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $159.00 price objective (up previously from $157.50) on shares of Simon Property Group in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Simon Property Group in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $195.00 target price for the company. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.10.

Simon Property Group Price Performance

SPG opened at $173.53 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $176.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $165.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.62 billion, a PE ratio of 23.11, a P/E/G ratio of 10.50 and a beta of 1.75. Simon Property Group has a 52 week low of $135.15 and a 52 week high of $186.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.20, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a current ratio of 2.00.

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 76.21% and a net margin of 43.36%. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.20 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Simon Property Group will post 12.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Simon Property Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.84%. This is an increase from Simon Property Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.05. Simon Property Group’s dividend payout ratio is 111.85%.

Insider Activity

In other Simon Property Group news, Director Reuben S. Leibowitz acquired 465 shares of Simon Property Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $168.59 per share, for a total transaction of $78,394.35. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 55,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,427,384.21. This represents a 0.84 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 8.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Simon Property Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SPG. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Simon Property Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Simon Property Group during the third quarter worth $30,000. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC bought a new stake in Simon Property Group during the third quarter worth $42,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in Simon Property Group in the third quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Simon Property Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $52,000. Institutional investors own 93.01% 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.