Morgan Stanley analyst Richard Hill said he is bullish on both multi-family and single-family rentership REITs, given his view of the demand for "defensive growth" and work that points to strong demand for housing over the near-term. Apartments can trade near the top end of the 5-year multiple range and single-family rental REITs can trade at premiums to apartments, contends Hill. He raised his price target on Invitation Homes (INVH) shares to $31 from $23.50, on American Homes 4 Rent (AMH) to $27.50 from $21, on Essex Property Trust (ESS) to $320 from $292, on AvalonBay (AVB) to $217 from $194, on Equity Residential (EQR) to $79 from $70 and on UDR, Inc. (UDR) to $48 from $43. He has Overweight ratings on Invitation and Essex and Equal Weight ratings on the four other REITs mentioned.

BMO Capital analyst John Kim upgraded Equity Residential to Outperform from Market Perform with a price target of $70, up from $68. The analyst believes Equity Residential trades at a discounted valuation despite moderate supply risks and a "surprisingly resilient" employment market. The firm believes the company introduced conservative 2024 guidance, which it is is likely to surpass during the year, particularly with U.S. employment resilient.