UPDATE: Bank of America Lowers PO on JC Penney As Investor Confidence Deteriorates

In a report published Tuesday, Bank of America reiterated JC Penney

at Underperform and lowered the price objective from $16 to $13. Bank of America reported that, “In our recent department store real estate note, we evaluated the likelihood of JCPenney splitting itself into two publicly traded companies -- a standalone REIT and an operating company. We concluded that JCPenney's retail fundamentals are not sound enough to support a standalone operating company and we do not think REIT investors have an appetite for owning single tenant mall anchor real estate. Vornado's liquidation of its JCPenney stake supports our view that this was simply a non-core investment, without strategic purposes.” JC Penney shares closed at $15.58 on Monday.