UPDATE: MLV Initiates Coverage on Winthrop Realty Trust with Buy Rating, $13.50 PT

In a report published Monday, MLV & Co. initiated coverage on Winthrop Realty Trust

with a Buy rating and $13.50 price target. MLV noted, “We are initiating coverage of Winthrop Realty Trust (FUR) with a BUY rating and $13.50 price target. We believe FUR is uniquely positioned to deploy capital into a broad array of opportunistic real estate investments at this point in the cycle. FUR's flexible investment focus allows the company to target assets up and down the commercial real estate capital structure. FUR's in-place portfolio consists of operating properties, loan originations, distressed debt acquisitions and REIT securities. FUR targets returns comparable with real estate private equity opportunity funds (>15%), where much of the IRR comes from back-end appreciation. However, given the variability in timing of FUR's investment returns coupled with the active nature of the company's portfolio management, there is a large amount of volatility in FUR's quarterly results. We expect continued near-term volatility in earnings as a result of recent portfolio activity. However, with shares trading at a discount to FUR's estimated net asset value, we believe the stock at current levels represents an attractive risk adjusted investment.” Winthrop Realty Trust closed on Friday at $12.01.