Barclays starts Essex Property at Equal Weight, notes SF apartment rent trends

Barclays initiated coverage of Essex Property Trust (ESS) with an Equal Weight rating and $316 price target The firm noted that nominal apartment rents in San Francisco are just now back to par with the pre-COVID period, while the U.S. overall has seen rents grow 20%+ cumulatively over the past five years or so. Barclays’ Equal Weight rating is based in part on the fact that despite the West Coast’s relative weakness since COVID, the stock has noticeably outperformed all of its large-cap Apartment peers on both a trialing 1- and trailing 2-year basis, the analyst tells investors in a research note.