RE:Buybacks have shifted fromHoffbag, yes it looks like BPY repurchased the last 1.28 million shares.....unfortunately it is only a token amount when your share count is a billion (!) shares. In my experience, the Board usually feels exposed and wants to look proactive when the stock drops the way BPY has and after the big GGP deal and especially when a majority shareholder is buying (creeping) the way BAM has been over the last few months.
The big picture is when you issue 250 million BPY/BPR shares at US$21 to acquire GGP and then 3 months later you have an opportunity to buy those same shares back in the US$17 dollar range (a 20% discount) is effectively a reduction in the purchase price paid for GGP. In the context that a comparable like SPG has been gaining meaningfully in value lately, one could conclude this is TRUE TANGIBLE shareholder value, no different than like SELLING AN ASSET FOR A GAIN. Management is paid a lot of money to be much smarter than us, so it is likely that putting precious capital into Forest City is a better idea at the moment, but it is management's responsibility to continually demonstrate this to us loyal shareholders and show us the money.
The sad reality is these 1.28 million shares only monetize net value of about $5 million on those purchases. HENCE the URGENCY to deliver on operations/recycling to surface large amounts of capital to buy shares well below US$21 they paid for GGP (or even the pipedream of NAV US$30).