Simon Property rises after Jefferies upgrades to 'buy'

SPG

16/04/2021 13:38

** Mall operator's shares  SPG.N  up 1.2% at $115.96
premarket after Jefferies upgrades stock to "buy" from "hold"
    ** Jefferies says retailer tenants investing more in stores,
pent-up consumer demand, rising vaccination rates and lower bad
debts are positive catalysts for the stock
    ** Raises PT by $18 to $130, much higher than median PT of
$119      
    ** Rising retail sales, especially for apparel, is a boon
for SPG as half of its mall space is being occupied by apparel
retailers, brokerage says
    ** 7 of 18 covering brokerages rate the stock "buy" or
higher, 11 rate it "hold"
    ** Jefferies says SPG could also grow through acquisitions
as the industry looks to consolidate
    ** SPG is up 34.3% this year - the top pct gainer in the S&P
500 Real Estate sector  .SPLRCR , which has gained 13.4%
    ** Stock has traded above its 50-day moving avg price since
early November
    

 (Reporting by Uday Sampath in Bengaluru)
 ((UdaySampath.Kumar@thomsonreuters.com; within U.S.+1 646 223
8780; Twitter: https://twitter.com/sampath_uday  ;))