VNO - Four office REITs downgraded by Evercore as office vacancy rates seen climbing

Evercore ISI analyst Steve Sakwa downgrades four office REITs as he expects office vacancy rates to jump to more than 17% by the end of 2021 vs. 13.8% now.Cuts Boston Properties (BXP), Kilroy Realty (KRC), and Paramount Group (PGRE) to In-Line from Outperform; downgrades Vornado Realty (VNO) to Underperform from In-Line."The slow pace of return to office along with rising discussions over work from home and high levels of new supply are just too much for the sector to deal with in the short-to-intermediate term," Sakwa writes.As a group, Evercore ISI cuts price targets for office REITs by 5%, though the range spans from 0% to -15%.Top picks remain Alexandria Real Estate Equities (ARE), which focuses on the life science sector "where work from home is much less of a threat", and Corporate Office Properties Trust (OFC), which focuses on the U.S. government and defense contractors in several key markets.See

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Four office REITs downgraded by Evercore as office vacancy rates seen climbing