NEW YORK — Shares of General Growth Properties Inc. fell 4.5 percent after an investment adviser said in a report that the bankrupt mall owner’s stock is overvalued.

“It is questionable whether there will be any value for current shareholders in GGP common stock,” Washington-based Hovde Capital Advisers LLC said in a 73-page report. Funds advised by Hovde and one of its principals have short positions in Chicago-based General Growth shares, meaning they are betting the stock will fall, the report said.
General Growth owns and manages seven malls in Hawaii, including Ala Moana Center in Honolulu and the Prince Kuhio Plaza in Hilo.
Shares of Chicago-based General Growth had gained more than 40 percent through yesterday after William Ackman’s Pershing Capital Management LP, an investor in the developer, said in a Dec. 22 presentation the stock was undervalued.
New York-based Pershing owns a 25 percent economic interest in General Growth, including 7.5 percent of its shares.
“Investors react so amazingly strongly to these guys, who are just talking their book,” said Rich Moore, managing director at RBC Capital Markets in Solon, Ohio. Moore has no recommendation on General Growth shares.
Yanni Angelakos, a spokesman for Washington-based Hovde Capital, declined to comment. Ackman didn’t return a telephone message.
General Growth filed the biggest real-estate bankruptcy in U.S. history in April after amassing $27 billion in debt during an acquisition spree.
General Growth shares closed down 59 cents at $12.41 in over-the-counter trading.