Brookfield Office Properties Inc Stock Downgraded (BPO)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Brookfield Office Properties (NYSE:BPO) has been downgraded by TheStreet Ratings from buy to hold. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its robust revenue growth, good cash flow from operations and expanding profit margins. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including unimpressive growth in net income, disappointing return on equity and a generally disappointing performance in the stock itself.

Highlights from the ratings report include:

• The revenue growth greatly exceeded the industry average of 10.4%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues rose by 43.8%. This growth in revenue does not appear to have trickled down to the company's bottom line, displayed by a decline in earnings per share.
• Net operating cash flow has significantly increased by 285.88% to $158.00 million when compared to the same quarter last year. In addition, BROOKFIELD OFFICE PPTYS INC has also vastly surpassed the industry average cash flow growth rate of -134.20%.
• The debt-to-equity ratio is somewhat low, currently at 0.97, and is less than that of the industry average, implying that there has been a relatively successful effort in the management of debt levels. Even though the company has a strong debt-to-equity ratio, the quick ratio of 0.41 is very weak and demonstrates a lack of ability to pay short-term obligations.
• The share price of BROOKFIELD OFFICE PPTYS INC has not done very well: it is down 10.15% and has underperformed the S&P 500, in part reflecting the company's sharply declining earnings per share when compared to the year-earlier quarter. The fact that the stock is now selling for less than others in its industry in relation to its current earnings is not reason enough to justify a buy rating at this time.
• The company, on the basis of change in net income from the same quarter one year ago, has significantly underperformed against the S&P 500 and did not exceed that of the Real Estate Management & Development industry. The net income has significantly decreased by 65.2% when compared to the same quarter one year ago, falling from $971.00 million to $338.00 million.

.

Brookfield Properties Corporation is a publicly owned real estate investment firm. The firm engages in the ownership, development, and management of premier commercial properties. It also provides ancillary real estate service businesses, such as tenant service and amenities. The company has a P/E ratio of 5.9, equal to the average real estate industry P/E ratio and below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Brookfield Office has a market cap of $8.55 billion and is part of the financial sector and real estate industry. Shares are up 8.6% year to date as of the close of trading on Wednesday.

You can view the full Brookfield Office Ratings Report or get investment ideas from our investment research center.
-- Written by a member of TheStreet Ratings Staff

For more information on Brookfield Office Properties Inc click any of the following:

• Brookfield Office Properties Inc Stock Price

• Brookfield Office Properties Inc Analyst Ratings

• Brookfield Office Properties Inc Key Stats & Profile

• Brookfield Office Properties Inc Earnings

• Brookfield Office Properties Inc Ratio Comparison

• Brookfield Office Properties Inc Growth Rates

• Brookfield Office Properties Inc Balance Sheet

• Brookfield Office Properties Inc Cash Flow

• Brookfield Office Properties Inc Income Statement