GGP Inc.’s (NYSE:GGP) slide in the market shows no signs of slowing down, despite institutional investors ramping up positions in the company in the second quarter. The Chicago-based real estate investment trust has been trading in a downtrend since the start of the year. It is currently down by more than 20% for the year.
Institutional Holdings
Regulatory filings, however, indicate that investors remain confident about the REITs long-term prospects. Brookfield Asset Management which happens to be the largest investor in the company increased its stake in the company to 327.05 million shares, from 258.23 million shares in the second quarter. The holding represents a 34.4% stake in GGP Inc.
Vanguard is another hedge fund with stakes in the company, the firm has a holding of 89.14 million shares according to regulatory filings.
GGP has come under pressure this year amidst a challenging retail environment. A change in customers trading patterns has resulted in a decline in traffic to malls resulting in the shutdown of many retail outlets. The shutdown has considerably affected the amount of revenues that REITs generate from rents.
The challenging retail environment has forced GGP Inc. (NYSE:GGP) to focus on Omni-channel retailing, where it hopes to generate higher sales. In the recent quarter, the company benefited from robust growth in minimum rents and management fees.
Q3 Financial Results
GGP Inc. delivered Funds from Operations (FFO) per share of 37 cents, slightly higher than consensus estimates of 35 cents. The result reflected a 2% growth in same-store net operating income. Revenues in the quarter totaled $578.4 million surpassing consensus estimates of 565.6 million.
However, a decline in net income did not go well with investors triggering a sell off in the stock. For the three months ended September 30, 2017, the real estate investment trust said it generated a net income of $223 million, compared to $674 million posted a year ago. GGP attributes the decline to the 2016 sale of interests in three properties.
GGP Inc. (NYSE:GGP) expects a net income of between $0.21 and $0.23 a share, for the fourth quarter.
Related Stories
