General Growth Properties (GGP) Boosts Ties with Shoppers - Analyst Blog

General Growth Properties Inc. (GGP), one of the leading retail REITs, is playing off-track and focusing on enhancing ties with its customers. The company is deliberately embracing the Omni-channel concept – right through the collaboration for availing digital coupon facilities across its properties as well as same-day delivery services.

We believe these initiatives placed the company well to reap huge gains, amid the busiest shopping season of the year. According to a forecast by the National Retail Federation (“NRF”), holiday sales (November and December) will see a solid 4.1% jump to $616.9 billion. The NRF prediction is higher than both last year's growth of 3.1% and the 10-year average sales increase of 2.9%.

Moreover, as per Shop.org, online sales too are projected to increase 8–11% to around $105 billion for this holiday season. These projections bring in big promises for the retailers, thanks to a fall in unemployment rate, gain in consumer confidence and falling oil prices that are leaving people with more disposable income.

In addition, in October, General Growth Properties also came up with encouraging results in third-quarter 2014. It reported an earnings surprise of 3.13% on an increase in initial rental rates and rise in same-store net operating income. Also, most recently the company declared a 6.25% sequential increase in its fourth quarter 2014 dividend payout to rewards its shareholders.

To gain deeper insight into General Growth Properties, you can refer to our updated research report, which was issued on Dec 2, 2014.

Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for both 2014 and 2015 remained unchanged at $1.32 and $1.44 per share, respectively. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Stocks that Warrant a Look

Other better-ranked REIT stocks include The Macerich Company (MAC), CBL & Associates Properties Inc. (CBL) and Retail Properties of America, Inc. (RPAI). All stocks have the same rank as General Growth Properties.

Note: FFO, a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs, are obtained after adding depreciation, amortization and other non-cash expenses to net income.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
 
MACERICH CO (MAC): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
GENL GRWTH PPTY (GGP): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
CBL&ASSOC PPTYS (CBL): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
RETAIL PROPERTS (RPAI): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.