TRD: The development firm, whose chairman is activist investor Bill Ackman, had seen its stock fall in recent years from a high in 2014. WSJ reported profits fell 66% from a year earlier to $57 million as it recorded higher operating costs and a larger income tax bill. A BWS Financial analyst, Vahid Khorsand, said Howard Hughes's embrace of master-planned communities is something that today's investors aren't familiar with. The Dallas-based firm has hired Centerview Partners to advise on; creating a spinoff or joint venture group, recapitalizing, or selling the company entirely, Reuters reported.