The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition that Scotia Capital's Andrew Weisel and Robert Hope expect North American regulated utility stocks to "continue to struggle in the near term despite strong and improving fundamentals as consistently-rising investor sentiment seems tougher and tougher to fight." The Globe's David Leeder writes that the two analysts say in a note: "We remain extremely bullish on the underlying backdrop, with demand for electricity accelerating, driving ongoing upside to capex outlooks. However, few utilities are converting these opportunities into upside to EPS. In today's risk-on market environment, we worry that defensive stocks will continue to be left behind without positive estimate revisions." The analysts predict the "macro risk-on" environment will likely continue to leave defensive stocks behind on both sides of the border. Mr. Hope continues to rate Emera "sector outperform." Mr. Hope gave his share target a $2 boost to $72. Analysts on average target the shares at $66.71. Mr. Hope says: "Emera has outperformed this year and seen its valuation expand. Our target valuation is based on 2027, which is a low growth year for the company given the age of its rates at Tampa Electric."