REAL ESTATE : J.M. Peters Seeks More Visibility for Stock by Move to American Exchange

The stock of Newport Beach home builder J.M. Peters Co. will move Friday from the over-the-counter market to the American Stock Exchange, a move the company says will give the stock “more visibility.”

The move comes amid rumors that Southmark Corp., Peters’ corporate parent, is planning a second public stock offering in the company.

Southmark sold 13% of Peters stock to the public last fall before the October stock market crash. Southmark would have tried to sell more stock if rising interest rates hadn’t already turned investors cool to home builders’ stocks.

Southmark--a Dallas real estate investment company with an unexceptional earnings record and its own problems with investors--then tried to sell the rest of Peters. But a deal with MDC Holdings in Denver recently fell through.

A Peters spokesman said Southmark hasn’t told the Newport Beach company whether it is still on the block or if a second public stock offering is in the works.

The spokesman noted, however, that Jim Peters, the company’s chairman, will meet with stock analysts in New York on Friday to tout the company at a breakfast meeting.

If there is another stock offering, this news should help: Peters recently reported hefty earnings increases for its latest fiscal year. Profits increased fourfold over last year, to $21.4 million.