UPDATE: Bank of America Upgrades Essex Property Trust to Buy on Fundamentals, Valuation

Bank of America raised its rating on Essex Property Trust ESS from Neutral to Buy with a reiterated $168 price objective. Bank of America said, "Ahead of 3Q results, we are upgrading ESS to Buy based on valuation and our expectation of continued strength in apartment fundamentals in its core California and Seattle markets. … We may be early here increasing our weighting in apartments even further, but we believe we're starting to see capitulation in the stock market as investors are once again appreciating not only the defensive attributes of the apartment sector but also the better growth expected in 2013 vs. other REIT sectors." Essex Property Trust closed at $145.00 on Thursday.