Empire State Realty (ESRT) began trading on the NYSE on 2 October 2013

Empire State Realty Trust (ESRT) was last up 26 cents, or 2%, to $13.26 on Wednesday, rising in its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange after its initial public offering priced at the low end of the expected range. Empire State Realty owns the Empire State Building and other New York properties. 

On Tuesday, the real estate investment trust sold 71.5 million shares for $13 each in its IPO to raise $929.5 million, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The company had predicted shares would price at between $13 and $15.

• Sector(s): Real Estate
• Industry: REIT - Diversified
• Full Time Employees: 666
• https://www.esrtreit.com

Ticker:  ESRT 

History

• At 1,454 feet, the new art deco skyscraper rises above the Chrysler Building, in the background. At its 1931 opening, the Empire State Building was nearly empty, thanks to the Depression. Construction took only one year and 45 days. The building's official opening was marked by President Herbert Hoover switching on its lights from Washington.
• Shortly before 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 28, 1945, a 10-ton B-25 bomber flew into the 78th and 79th floors of the Empire State Building. The explosion blew a hole 18 feet wide and sent one of the bomber's engines through the other side and across 33rd Street onto the roof of another building. Fourteen people died, but the building remained structurally intact.
• A $20 million makeover that began recently will replace all 6,513 windows to reduce energy consumption.
• With the collapse of the World Trade Center's towers, the Empire State Building again became New York's tallest building. It will return to second place once the new One World Trade Center building is completed, in late 2013.

Re/Max (RMAX) began trading on the NYSE on 2 October 2013

Real estate brokerage franchiser RE/Max Holdings (RMAX) surged 22% in its trading debut on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday. After pricing its 10-million-share initial public offering at $22 a share, the stock was trading at $26.19 in the early going.

November 12 : Colorado-based RE/MAX Holdings, Inc. opened the market to celebrate the company’s recent IPO on October 2, 2013 under the ticker symbol “RMAX”. In honor of the occasion, RE/MAX Chairman and Co-Founder Dave Liniger, Vice Chair and Co-Founder Gail Liniger and Chief Executive Officer Margaret Kelly, rang the Opening Bell. RE/MAX is one of the world’s leading franchisors of real estate brokerage services.

Burlington Stores (BURL) began trading on the NYSE on 2 October 2013

Burlington Stores (BURL), parent of Burlington Coat Factory, saw its shares surge as much as 40% on Wednesday to $23.82. It priced its initial public offering of 13.3 million shares at $17 a share on Tuesday night, above its targeted price offering range of $14 to $16 a share. The 503-store off-price retailer counts among rivals T.J. Maxx parent TJX Cos. (TJX) and Ross Stores (ROST), both of which have consistently outperformed the retail industry average with their strategy of selling namebrand items at a discount. Both TJX and Ross Stores dipped.

The 503-store chain’s parent Burlington Stores Inc. (BURL)  saw its shares closed up 47% to $25.01 on its first day of trade.  Late Tuesday, it priced its public offering of 13.3 million shares at $17 a share, up from its initial range of $14 to $16.

Burlington’s offering is part of the 160 U.S. listed IPOs so far this year, a six-year high, according to Dealogic.

“We are pleased with it, said Chief Executive Tom Kingsbury in an interview. “It’s very exciting that our story and transformation has really resonated with investors.”

It’s also good news for Bain Capital, which took the company private in 2006 and will retain a 75% stake after the IPO.

Burlington competes in a so-called off-price retail space and counts among rivals T.J. Maxx parent TJX Cos. TJX  and Ross Stores Inc.  ROST   The sector has consistently outperformed the retail industry average built around a strategy of buying excess in-season goods from manufacturers and selling name brand items at a discount.

The off-price apparel channel’s sales have grown over 10 times faster than department stores and other national chains, the company said in a filing, quoting research firm NPD Group.

TJX and Ross Stores, for instance, have both seen their shares about quadrupled in the past five years, compared with S&P 500′s 45% increase. TJX, approaching $27 billion in sales, is even bigger than Gap Inc. GPS  in the apparel space.

While many retailers have reported disappointing first-half sales, Burlington posted a 5.5% comparable store gain, including a 7.8% increase in the second quarter. Kingsbury said same-store sales have risen in 11 of the past 14 quarters. Its total revenue rose 13% to $4.17 billion in the year ended Feb. 2 from $3.7 billion in fiscal year 2011. It returned to a profit of $25.3 million last year from a loss the previous year.

Kingsbury said the Burlington, New Jersey-based company has grown in recent years by enhancing its “treasure-hunt” environment at stores to excite demand, and buying more in-season merchandise from its 3,500 vendors. It differentiates from its rivals with an 80,000 square-foot average store size that’s two to three times bigger than its main rivals, which allows it to feature a baby gear section, a year-round coat business — about 8% of its total — and a men’s tailored business, he said.

The company plans to add 25 stores each year and sees the market supporting at least 1,000 stores.  Kingsbury, however, said new store average size has dropped to near 60,000 square feet. Over 98% of its stores are profitable on a store-level cash flow basis, the company said, adding it has “considerable room to grow profitability.”