General Growth Properties Bumps Up Buyback Program By $500 Million

General Growth Properties Inc. increased on Wednesday its stock repurchase program by $500 million, with no expiration date. Including the amount left over from previous buyback authorizations, the real estate investment trust can buy back up to $600 million worth of its shares. At Tuesday's closing price of $24.92, that would represent the repurchase of about 24.1 million shares, or 2.7% of the shares outstanding, according to FactSet. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has lost 11% year to date, while the S&P 500 has shed 9.3%.