Mack-Cali Realty Corporation Stock Upgraded (CLI)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Mack-Cali Realty Corporation (NYSE:CLI) has been upgraded by TheStreet Ratings from hold to buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, reasonable valuation levels, increase in stock price during the past year, growth in earnings per share and increase in net income. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had somewhat disappointing return on equity.

Highlights from the ratings report include:

• CLI, with its decline in revenue, underperformed when compared the industry average of 6.9%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly dropped by 4.0%. The declining revenue has not hurt the company's bottom line, with increasing earnings per share.
• MACK-CALI REALTY CORP has improved earnings per share by 5.5% in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. This company has reported somewhat volatile earnings recently. But, we feel it is poised for EPS growth in the coming year. During the past fiscal year, MACK-CALI REALTY CORP reported lower earnings of $0.62 versus $0.90 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($0.76 versus $0.62).
• The stock price has risen over the past year, but, despite its earnings growth and some other positive factors, it has underperformed the S&P 500 so far. Turning our attention to the future direction of the stock, it goes without saying that even the best stocks can fall in an overall down market. However, in any other environment, this stock still has good upside potential despite the fact that it has already risen in the past year.
• The debt-to-equity ratio is somewhat low, currently at 0.96, and is less than that of the industry average, implying that there has been a relatively successful effort in the management of debt levels.

Mack-Cali Realty Corporation is a real estate investment trust (REIT). It engages in the leasing, management, acquisition, development, and construction of commercial real estate properties in the United States. The company has a P/E ratio of 53.5, above the average real estate industry P/E ratio of 49.6 and above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Mack-Cali has a market cap of $2.9 billion and is part of the financial sector and real estate industry. Shares are up 2.1% year to date as of the close of trading on Wednesday.

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