Empire State upgraded on New York City tourism recovery at BofA

BofA upgraded Empire State Realty to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $9.25, up from $9. The analyst views the stock’s valuation as the most compelling of its office real estate investment trust peers "despite challenging near-term fundamentals." While Empire’s outlook for same store net operating income implies the greatest decline from higher building utilization and taxes, there is upside potential to earnings from lower operating expenses and continuing recovery of New York City tourism the analyst tells investors in a research note.