UBS: Residential REITs Worth A Look

the tickerspy.com Staff, On Thursday July 8, 2010, 1:49 pm EDT

Analysts at UBS brought residential REITs into focus on Thursday, upgrading a handful of apartment plays. The firm conceded that REITs aren't "table-pounding cheap," but noted the sector is in fair value territory following a pullback over the last few months. A look at the Residential REITs Index's three-month performance shows that half of the Index's 17 have posted gains since early-April, and only three are in negative territory on a six-month basis. Still, the positive sentiment is worth noting, and it will be interesting to see how the firm's upgrades play out.

UBS upgraded the apartment REITs segment to Market Weight boosted AvalonBay Communities (NYSE: AVB - News), Essex Property Trust (NYSE: ESS - News), and Post Properties (NYSE: PPS - News) to Neutral from Sell. All three yield over 3% based on current values and payouts made over the past year, and the trio is leading the sector higher with respective gains of 4% or more over the past five sessions. (more)