CBL & Associates Shares Jump On Analyst Report

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) — Shares of CBL & Associates Property Inc. jumped as much as 20 percent Friday after a Goldman Sachs analyst upgraded the shopping mall developer's rating saying its bankruptcy risk is gone because of improved liquidity.

Analyst Jonathan Habermann upgraded CBL & Associates to "Conviction Buy" from "Neutral," saying the stock is undervalued. Habermann raised his price target on the shares to $10 from $4, which suggests a 47 percent increase from Thursday's closing stock price of $6.81.

The real estate investment trust has options to raise capital through an equity raise and asset sales, and debt maturities in 2009 and 2010 are manageable, Habermann wrote.

Still, occupancy is expected to fall to 87 percent and rent spreads are expected to flat by the end of 2010, the analyst wrote.

Habermann also addressed mall operator Simon Property Group Inc., removing it from its "Conviction List," a list of highly-rated stocks. The analyst maintained a "Buy" rating on Simon Property because the company had solid liquidity and potential for improvement in its stock. He raised the target price to $50 from $46.