Speculation about a corporate takeover continues to surround the Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust as analysts call out likely bidders, and the one getting the most attention is PREIT’s major redevelopment partner for downtown Philly’s Gallery, California-based Macerich.

“Several institutional investors have told us they expect [Macerich] could potentially seize the initiative and make a bid,” analysts at Boenning & Scattergood wrote in a Philly.com report by Jacob Adelman. “We expect [Macerich] may not be the only bidder.”

PREIT, the owner of the Exton Square Mall, has been thinning its mall properties and recently threw open its doors to merger proposals. Now its stock value is as attractive as its streamlined business model.

Boenning & Scattergood assessed its net asset value at $31.55 per share, well above Friday’s $20.80 closing stock price.

“We believe that [PREIT] should post some of the most compelling NAV growth in the mall sector over the next two-plus years,” analysts said in the article. “Investors currently don’t pay up for this growth.”

The lure of PREIT is also being driven by its share in the Gallery redevelopment, considered to become the trust’s “crown jewel” once it opens as the Fashion Outlets of Philadelphia in 2019.

Read more about the buyout speculation on Philly.com here, and check out previous VISTA Today coverage of PREIT here.