A Stock to Watch: General Growth Properties Inc (NYSE:GGP)

[Forbes] General Growth Properties Inc (NYSE:GGP) saw new options begin trading for the December 20th expiration. At Stock Options Channel, our YieldBoost formula has looked up and down the GGP options chain for the new December 20th contracts and identified one put and one call contract of particular interest.The put contract at the $23.00 strike price has a current bid of 41 cents. If an investor was to sell-to-open that put contract, they are committing to purchase the stock at $23.00, but will also collect the premium, putting the cost basis of the shares at $22.59 (before broker commissions).Stock PerformanceTaking a look at the company’s recent performance, General Growth Properties reported Second quarter earnings for fiscal 2014 on July 28^th. The company reported actual earnings per share of $0.31 against the consensus Street estimate of $0.30. This represents year over year growth of 10.0%. General Growth Properties posted revenue of $617.62 million against estimates of $606.60 million.General Growth Properties Inc (NYSE:GGP) is currently valued at $21.72 billion and closed the last trading session at $24.71. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $24.11 and a 200-day moving average of $23.46.

Is this a Buying Opportunity?There are currently ten analysts that we track that cover the stock. Of those ten, nine have a Buy rating and one has a hold rating. On a consensus basis this yields a score of 2.90 and a Buy. The combined price objective of these covering analysts is $25.50, which represents a 8.60% upside difference to the last closing price.The most recent analyst activity consisted of Citigroup Inc reiterating their buy stance on the company. Citigroup Inc has a price target of $26.00 to $ 27.00 which represents an upside of 15.55% from the last closing price. On the date of the report, the stock closed at $24.21.Another research firm weighing in recently was Deutsche Bank who also reiterated their rating on the stock. On August 05^th Deutsche Bank also boosted their price target on the stock from $26.00 to $27.00, a 15.55% upside to the current price. On the day of the report, GGP shares closed at $23.05.Company ProfileGeneral Growth Properties (NYSE:GGP), Inc is an equity real estate investment trust. The firm invests in the real estate markets of the United States. It engages in owning, managing, leasing, and redeveloping high-quality regional malls. General Growth Properties, Inc was founded in 1986 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.