Extra Space Storage Stock Wavers After Downgrade

Raymond James downgraded to "underperform" from "market perform"

Extra Space Storage Inc (NYSE:EXR) is down 0.6% to trade at $96.89 this morning, following a downgrade from Raymond James. Their analyst in coverage, Jonathan Hughes, cited that the "risk/reward skews negatively," and moved EXR to "underperform" from "market perform."

Since a three-year low of $72.70 on March 23, Extra Space Storage stock has been moving up on the charts -- and on Monday toppled resistance at the 30-day moving average for the first time since early March. The equity is up 3% in the last week, though still down 8.4% year-to-date.

Raymond James' downgrade reflects the overall analyst sentiment. Coming into today, six out of 10 analysts sported a lukewarm "hold," withthree considering a "strong buy" and one at "strong sell." Meanwhile, the 12-month consensus price target of $104.3 is a slim 7% premium to current levels.

Short interest has started falling off, down 9.7% in the last reporting period. The 5.71 million shares sold short still accounts for 4.5% of the stock's available float, and would take six days to cover at EXR's average pace of trading. This indicates bears remain firmly in control of the equity.