Douglas Emmett IPO Pops

Shares of real estate investment trust Douglas Emmett(DEI Quote) jumped 13% on their first day of trading, as investors flocked to the company's attractive portfolio of office and apartment buildings in Southern California.

In a sign of strong interest in the stock, the company boosted the size of its offering to 66 million shares from the planned 55 million. The IPO priced at $21 per share, at the high end of the projected range of $19 to $21. In first-day trading Tuesday, the stock rose to $23.71.

Douglas Emmett has "great properties in irreplaceable locations," says Dean Frankel, portfolio manager with Urdang Securities Management, which participated in the deal and toured the company's California properties last week. "They're in places where it is impossible to build." An example he cites is the company's high-rise apartment building steps from the beach in Santa Monica. ...