Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust Hits New 52-Week Low

Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust NYSE:PEI last week sold off to a new 52-week low at $2.45 before buyers took it to just slightly higher. 

Based in Philadelphia, the company specializes in "the ownership and management of differentiated shopping malls," according to its website.

Earlier in November, CEO Joseph Coradino advised investors that the real estate investment trust (REIT) plans to explore a merger or a sale. In the most recent quarterly update, funds from operations show a loss of $1.13 per share versus a loss of $1.12 per share for the year-ago period.

Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust filed for bankruptcy in November 2020 and emerged from it one month later. The short float for the REIT sits at 28.21%, an exceptionally high figure for a New York Stock Exchange-listed security. If those shorts were ever forced to cover (that is, buy back the shares they were loaned), a substantial rally might occur. Although possible, such an outcome seems unlikely.

The REIT is lightly traded: The average daily volume is a meager 39,270 shares. The company does not pay a dividend.

The daily price chart for Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust looks like this:

The recent 52-week low and the subsequent slight rally have not been enough to get the price back above that declining 50-day moving average (the blue line). The declining 200-day moving average (the red line) is the clearest statement of investor lack of buying interest.

Here's the weekly chart for the Pennsylvania Real Estate Trust:

It's a bearish look with the price below both the declining 50-week moving average and the declining 200-week moving average. Note that in late 2019 the REIT traded as high as $83, and the current price is $2.61. That's a 97% drop in value in about three years.

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Charts courtesy of StockCharts