PREIT Closes Washington Asset Sale, Pursues Transformation

Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (NYSE:PEI) , better known as PREIT, has accomplished the sale of Washington Crown Center in Washington, PA. for $20.0 million. The move comes as part of the company’s robust transformation agenda and represents the 14th lower-productivity mall disposition in that effort.

Anchored by Macy's, Inc. (NYSE:M) , Gander Mountain and Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:SHLD) , Washington Crown Center generated sales per square foot of $313 as of Jun 30, 2016. Moreover, it had non-anchor occupancy of 87.4%.

PREIT is notably focused on creating a portfolio poised for long-term growth. The company has been able to improve operating results through its disposition program as well as its remerchandising and renovation efforts. Such progress includes not only solid renewal spreads, but also progress in margin and expansion in same store net operating income (NOI).

In fact, through its transformation program, PREIT has raked in proceeds over $660 million. Further, the company is engaged in marketing of Beaver Valley Mall, in Monaca, PA.

Headquartered in Philadelphia, PREIT focuses on the ownership and management of differentiated retail shopping malls. The company came up with adjusted funds from operations (“FFO”) per share of 43 cents in the second quarter, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.9% and increasing 10.3% from the year-ago quarter figure.

PREIT currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Investors interested in the retail REIT industry may also consider Acadia Realty Trust (NYSE:AKR) , which has the same Zacks rank as PREIT.

Note: FFO, a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs, is obtained after adding depreciation and amortization and other non-cash expenses to net income. All EPS numbers presented in this write up represent FFO per share.