Citi ups CoStar target to $105, opens ‘Positive Catalyst Watch’

Citi analyst Peter Christiansen raised the firm’s price target on CoStar Group to $105 from $92 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The analyst also opened a “90-Day Positive Catalyst Watch” on the shares. The firm is “incrementally bullish” on CoStar’s nearer-term momentum, even after the stock’s 30% rally. “Both inside and outside forces are coming together,” positioning the company’s marketplace segments for potential outsized bookings growth nearer-term, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Citi says CoStar is “uniquely/unequivocally” positioned to benefit from 40-year highs in new apartment completions as well as commercial real estate vacancy levels. It says the stock has further room to run.