UPDATE: Bank of America Upgrades UDR to Neutral, Maintains PT at $26

Bank of America raises its rating on UDR (NYSE: UDR) from Underperform to Neutral on valuation and new MetLife JV as it maintains its $26 price target unchanged.

Bank of America notes, "We base our PO on a 12 month forward net asset value estimate of $25.80 and we think there is potential for upside from the recently announced JV with MetLife. However, for the near term we remain cautious on NYC and DC and look to UDR's Feb. 6th scheduled earnings call for additional color on these markets. We are decreasing our 4Q11 FFO estimate to $0.33 from $0.35 to reflect dispositions and are increasing our 2012 FFO estimate to $1.45 from $1.41 on this deal."

UDR closed at $24.04 per share on Friday.