Hilliard Lyons Analysts Positive On Kite Realty, Despite Downgrade

Hilliard Lyons has downgraded Kite Realty Group Trust

to Neutral from Buy on valuation as the stock recently surpassed its previous $30.00 target price. Based in Indianapolis, Indiana, Kite Realty Group is a self-administered real estate investment trust (REIT). The company develops, owns, operates, and manages community shopping centers in select markets in the United States. "Our rating change is based on valuation only, as we remain comfortable with management and the fundamentals for the company," analyst Carol Kemple wrote in a note. Last week, Kite reported second quarter FFO per share of $0.48 versus $0.54 in the year ago period. This was a penny below the brokerage's estimate. Excluding non-recurring items, FFO per share was $0.52 versus $0.49 in the same quarter last year. Same property NOI increased 2.6 percent year over year. Kite executed 98 leases in the quarter with a cash leasing spread of 9.4 percent. The REIT narrowed 2016 FFO per share guidance to a range of $2.00 - $2.02 from a range of $2.00 - $2.06. As such, Kemple cut her 2016 FFO per share estimate by $0.02 to $2.01. At the time of writing, shares of Kite Realty fell 1.71 percent to $29.89.