Inside the Market’s roundup of some of today’s key analyst actions
RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust (REI-UN-T) has underperformed its peers this year, but National Bank Financial analyst Matt Kornack thinks that’s about to change. He thinks the REIT is set for a “reversion trade”, contending that the units have been held back disproportionately to the headwinds facing the company.
He upgraded RioCan to “outperform” from “sector perform” and raised his price target to C$19 from C$18.
RioCan units are down 2.9% this year, the only security with a negative return within Mr. Kornack’s coverage.
“Uncertainty remains on the periphery of the portfolio, but REI’s core retail operations remain strong with peer-leading leasing spreads and full occupancy,” Mr. Kornack said in a note to clients. “The REIT has optionality in dealing with its exposure to the Bay, has been successful in monetizing its condo inventory and saw some strong pricing on recent apartment disposition activity. Balance sheet capacity should improve given the latter two points.”
“We don’t think the issues facing the REIT are insurmountable, and ultimately the outcomes may be a positive driver for leverage and earnings,” he said.
“Negative sentiment surrounding HBC is likely overdone at this point as the JV progresses through the CCAA process and REI will only allocate additional capital if it generates a sufficient return. The broader market tone has improved, and credit spreads have tightened materially. The REIT has lagged recent upward trading performance of peers providing a better total return outlook without having to stretch on valuation. It is also worth noting that with institutional capital looking at real assets again, necessity-based retail screens positively from a near-term risk / reward standpoint with a longer-term potential for density-related portfolio maximization,” the analyst added.
The average analyst price target is C$19.77, according to LSEG data.
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Investor interest in AtkinsRéalis Group Inc.’s (ATRL-T) nuclear plant construction operations is heating up, providing an attractive entry point in the stock, said Desjardins analyst Benoit Poirier. He raised his price target on the stock to C$115 from C$100 while reiterating a “buy” rating.
He thinks AtkinsRéalis’s new-build reactor pipeline alone could be worth C$41 a share, while its underappreciated refurbishment pipeline and nuclear services expertise is worth $21 a share. Nuclear only represents a portion of the engineering company’s overall services.
“Combining ATRL’s nuclear new-build and refurbishment/services discounted cash flows yields a value of C$62, implying a 38x multiple on 2026 nuclear EBITDA. If ATRL secures more reactor awards and sector momentum continues, we believe a nuclear spin-off may be possible, although it would require significant scale. While our discounted cash flow suggests a larger value, we have raised our multiple to only 25x, in line with peers and our new-build bear case, and in view of potential ramp-up challenges,” he said.
Mr. Poirier feels the nuclear opportunity for AtkinsRéalis now feels “more tangible and actionable.”
“It is no longer just a pie-in-the-sky megatrend—ATRL is clearly executing on a concrete growth plan. Over the past two years, it has more than tripled its Nuclear segment backlog, secured its first CANDU new-build award since the 1990s and raised its already-strong 2027 Nuclear targets following 1Q25 results. Meanwhile, macro tailwinds are strengthening: President Trump signed an executive order to quadruple US nuclear capacity by 2050; Meta signed a 20-year power deal with Constellation following similar 2024 deals by Microsoft and Amazon; and European countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark are lifting nuclear restrictions to meet energy security and climate goals. The World Bank has also reversed its anti-nuclear stance, and is now supporting reactor life extensions and grid upgrades. While many of these developments are more US-centric (there are no ATRL-CANDU reactors in that country), we see them as a positive signal for the broader global market," the analyst said.
The average analyst target is C$104.54.
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TD Cowen analyst Vince Valentini raised his price target on Thomson Reuters Corp. (TRI-T) to C$305 from C$260 as he introduced his 2027 estimates for the company.
Thomson Reuters shares soared 8% on Monday on expectations that the stock may get added to the Nasdaq-100 index, a decision that would increase investment flows to the stock.
ANSS-US (ANSYS Inc) received conditional approval from China for its acquisition by SNPS-US (Synopsys). If and when ANSS is acquired, it will be removed from the Nasdaq-100 and Thomson Reuters is considered by index specialists to be a top candidate for replacing it.
The TD analyst introduced the 2027 estimates to try to find out how much upside in EBITDA the stock seems to be pricing in following Monday’s rally.
Mr. Valentini, who still has a “hold” rating on the stock, said: “In our base case 2027 estimates, we have assumed an increase in organic revenue growth to 10.3% for the big three segments (+9.5% for Legal; +12% for Tax; and +10.5% for Corporates), which is up from 9% expected by management in 2026. We also assumed a meaningful step-up to 42% consolidated EBITDA margins in 2027, versus 40% expected in 2026. Normal operating leverage (revenues growing faster than annual inflation in fixed costs, where fixed is about 60% of total opex) should drive about 110bp of margin expansion per year, plus we assume an extra boost in 2027 from either less headwind from temporary GenAI development costs (both organic R&D, and integration costs related to acquisitions), and/or more meaningful cost transformation efforts as the company uses its own GenAI capabilities to become more efficient. We are now basing our target price off these 2027 forecasts, with no change in our target multiple of 26.5x EBITDA. One could argue that a 2027-based target value should be discounted by 10-15% for time value, but we have decided to not apply any discount owing to the strong momentum and execution at the company.”
The average analyst target is C$271.
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BMO Capital Markets analyst Michael Goldie initiated coverage on Exchange Income Corp. (EIF-T) with a “market perform” rating and C$59 price target.
“Exchange Income Corporation is an acquisition-oriented company operating within niche Aerospace & Aviation and Manufacturing segments where it is often a market leader,” Mr. Goldie summarized in his initiation report. “It finances investments with debt and equity, recycling acquired cash flows into dividend growth that has been a material source of shareholder returns. More recent share price appreciation has been led by multiple expansion as EPS growth has been challenged by limited Return on invested capital/Weighted Average Cost of Capital spreads. Should this reverse, it could be a meaningful and positive catalyst.”
The average target is C$71.19.
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Prairiesky Royalty Ltd.’s (PSK-T) second-quarter results were a “beat across the board,” noted Raymond James analyst Luke Davis, who raised his price target to C$29 from C$28. He maintained a “market perform” rating.
“PrairieSky’s 2Q25 earnings printed a beat on both volumes and cash flows, while posting record oil volumes of 14.4 mboe/d (+8% y/y) despite ongoing macro uncertainty. We expect PrairieSky’s liquids-weighted exposure in the Clearwater, Mannville, and Duvernay to present the most meaningful operational momentum into the second half, alongside advancements in multilateral drilling, which we expect to drive the bulk of oil-weighted volume growth for the foreseeable future. In our view, PrairieSky’s defensive royalty model has carved a path for sustained shareholder returns with upside through countercyclical M&A and share buybacks - the latter of which we expect to become more meaningful through the balance of the year,” Mr. Davis said.
Elsewhere, Canaccord lowered its price target to C$25 from C$26 and maintained a “hold” rating, based on upgraded estimates and a rich valuation on some measures versus its group peer.
The average target is C$29.59.
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Canaccord Genuity analyst Yuri Lynk raised his price target on Badger Infrastructure Solutions Ltd. (BDGI-T) to C$60 from C$52, and reiterated a “buy” rating, ahead of the release of its second-quarter earnings.
“We expect an impressive set of results when Badger releases Q2/2025 results on July 30. Our model calls for over 17% year-over-year adjusted-EPS growth on 8% revenue growth, demonstrating management’s focus on driving higher incremental margins,” My Lynk said in a note to clients.
“We continue to view Badger as one of the most compelling organic growth stories in the industrials space as non-destructive hydrovac excavation enjoys broadening adoption. As the largest hydrovac service provider in North America by a wide margin, Badger enjoys considerable scale advantages that it is leveraging through a successful national accounts program and comprehensive branch network. Separately, we see hidden value potential in the excess capacity at Badger’s manufacturing facility in Red Deer, Alberta,” the analysts said.
Mr. Lynk noted that Badger trades at 17.5x estimated 2025 earnings per share. “In the context of 25% adjusted-EPS growth in 2024 and our expectation for similar growth this year and next, Badger shares appear inexpensive,” he said.
The average target is C$50.75.
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In other analyst actions:
Alamos Gold Inc (AGI-T): CIBC raises target price to C$55 from C$48
Allied Gold Corp (AAUC-T): CIBC raises target price to C$30 from C$26
Centerra Gold Inc (CG-T): CIBC raises target price to C$15 from C$12
Dundee Precious Metals Inc (DPM-T): CIBC raises target price to C$28 from C$25
Endeavour Silver Corp (EDR-T): CIBC raises target price to C$10 from C$7.25
Equinox Gold Corp (EQX-T): CIBC raises target price to C$11 from C$10
ERO Copper Corp (ERO-T): CIBC cuts target price to C$24 from C$34
First Quantum Minerals Ltd (FM-T): CIBC raises target price to C$27 from C$20
Fortuna Mining Corp (FVI-T): CIBC raises target price to C$8 from C$7
Franco-Nevada Corp (FNV-T): CIBC raises target price to C$315 from C$290
Maple Leaf Foods Inc (MFI-T): TD Cowen raises target price to C$41 from C$38
Nvidia Corp (NVDA-Q): Melius Research raises target price to US$235 while Oppenheimer raises target price to US$200 from US$175