Pacer Advisors Inc. Acquires 9,737 Shares of Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG)

Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG - Free Report) by 42.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 32,466 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 9,737 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Simon Property Group were worth $5,591,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in Simon Property Group by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 23,158 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,988,000 after buying an additional 493 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Simon Property Group by 170.3% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 880,309 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $151,597,000 after purchasing an additional 554,605 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in Simon Property Group in the 4th quarter valued at $5,528,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Simon Property Group by 29.0% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,598 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $946,000 after purchasing an additional 1,260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Simon Property Group by 22.7% during the fourth quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 13,377 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,304,000 after buying an additional 2,478 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.01% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Simon Property Group

In related news, Director Reuben S. Leibowitz bought 465 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $168.59 per share, for a total transaction of $78,394.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 55,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,427,384.21. The trade was a 0.84 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 8.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Simon Property Group Stock Performance

SPG traded up $2.06 during trading on Thursday, hitting $175.69. 1,092,517 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,267,329. The firm has a market cap of $57.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.26 and a beta of 1.75. 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 one year low of $135.15 and a one year high of $186.00. The stock's fifty day moving average is $176.35 and its 200 day moving average is $169.34.

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 76.21% and a net margin of 43.36%. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.20 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Simon Property Group, Inc. will post 12.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Simon Property Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.78%. This is a positive change from Simon Property Group's previous quarterly dividend of $2.05. Simon Property Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 111.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on SPG. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Simon Property Group in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a "hold" rating and a $195.00 target price for the company. Mizuho increased their price objective on Simon Property Group from $158.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com cut Simon Property Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Simon Property Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $179.00 to $198.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $172.10.

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.