Ballentine Partners LLC Buys 594 Shares of Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG)

Ballentine Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) by 12.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,296 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 594 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Simon Property Group were worth $912,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SPG. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Simon Property Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC purchased a new stake in Simon Property Group in the third quarter worth approximately $42,000. Eastern Bank bought a new position in Simon Property Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Simon Property Group during the third quarter worth approximately $52,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Simon Property Group by 107.5% in the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 413 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. 93.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Simon Property Group Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of Simon Property Group stock opened at $172.90 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.20. Simon Property Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.15 and a 12-month high of $186.00. The company has a market cap of $56.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.02, a PEG ratio of 9.33 and a beta of 1.75. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $177.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $168.36.

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.20 EPS. Simon Property Group’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Simon Property Group, Inc. will post 12.72 EPS for the current year.

Simon Property Group Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Simon Property Group from $158.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Simon Property Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock 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 note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $195.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Simon Property Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Simon Property Group Company Profile

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.