Oppenheimer Lowers E-House (EJ) Price Target To $20.

Oppenheimer analyst Ella Ji maintained an Outperform rating for shares of E-House (China) Holdings Limited (NYSE: EJ) but lowered the price target to $20, down from the previous price target of $22.

Ji lowered the price target after lowering the 2011 EPS estimate to $1.46, down from the previous 2011 EPS estimate of $1.52.

The Oppenheimer analyst wrote, "as expected in our preview note, EJ provided conservative 2Q guidance, citing volatile sell-through rate (10% currently vs. 80% one month ago). Yet the pressure on its primary agency services is partially offset by: 1) CRIC's stable and stronger growth; and 2) CRIC's new cooperation with Baidu, a strong long-term business addition despite its temporary margin pressure (~4% in 2010). Our net takeaway is conservative near term, but positive long term. Uncertainties about the broad real estate market may continue to overhang on EJ's operational results and price. Until clarity is found, we'd rather err on the conservative side. Maintaining Outperform but adjusting PT to $20 from $22 on lowered 2011E EPS of $1.46 (target multiple remains at 14x)."

Shares of E-House (China) Holdings Limited were trading at $14.64 per share during the morning trading session, down slightly from the previous day's closing price of $14.57 per share.