Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 98,366 Shares of Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG - Free Report) by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,376,194 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 98,366 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.42% of Simon Property Group worth $236,995,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SPG. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Simon Property Group by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 79,678 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $13,467,000 after acquiring an additional 3,696 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Simon Property Group during the 3rd quarter worth $310,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Simon Property Group by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 6,175 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,044,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Simon Property Group by 213.4% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,338 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $733,000 after acquiring an additional 2,954 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Simon Property Group by 19.2% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,995 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $506,000 after acquiring an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. 93.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Reuben S. Leibowitz purchased 465 shares of Simon Property Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were bought 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 of the company's stock, valued at $9,427,384.21. This represents a 0.84 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 8.50% of the company's stock.

Simon Property Group Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:SPG traded down $2.85 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $183.86. 1,367,631 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,294,712. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.99 billion, a PE ratio of 25.32, a P/E/G ratio of 10.05 and a beta of 1.74. The business's 50 day moving average is $176.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $172.60. The company has a quick ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.19. Simon Property Group, Inc. has a one year low of $139.25 and a one year high of $188.13.

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $1.70. Simon Property Group had a net margin of 41.49% and a return on equity of 74.02%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Simon Property Group, Inc. will post 12.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Simon Property Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Simon Property Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on SPG shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Simon Property Group in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a "hold" rating and a $195.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Simon Property Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $179.00 to $198.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Piper Sandler raised shares of Simon Property Group from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $175.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Simon Property Group from $158.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Simon Property Group has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $175.10.

Simon Property Group 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.