Bank of America Merrill Lynch Remains Neutral On Douglas Emmett

Bank of America Merrill Lynch has a Neutral rating and a $21.50 price target on shares of Douglas Emmett DEI. In a note to clients, Bank of America Merrill Lynch writes, "We hosted two days of meetings with DEI management and investors this week. The multifamily portfolio is the bright spot with consistent NOI growth. Office market conditions have bottomed and are starting to improve. The question now is how fast and how strong. Media, tech and healthcare tenants are driving historically strong leasing, but move-outs and the trend of less space leased per employee are weighing on occupancy growth. This balance has improved in recent quarters. DEI is optimistic that new leases will outpace move-outs in the near future, which combined with almost no new supply will lead to rent growth. We remain Neutral based on valuation looking for signs of a stronger recovery." Shares of DEI lost 57 cents yesterday to close at $19.31.