The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday, Jan. 11, edition that following Minto Apartment REIT's sale of two older Ottawa assets for net proceeds of $69-million, Scotia Capital analyst Mario Saric bumped his target for its units to $18.75 from $18.50 with a "sector perform" rating. The Globe's David Leeder writes that analysts on average target the shares at $17.61. Mr. Saric says in a note: "On the surface, we like the news. It raises a good amount of the capital to likely (in our view) buy two CDL projects (Londsdale Square and The Hyland) from the Minto Group late in 2024 (we estimate approximately one-cent of dilution; already in our numbers). We also view an acceleration in Community Housing Corporations/Government bodies acquiring assets to preserve affordability as a positive for the apartment industry on the whole (i.e., crystallizing some of the LT rent MTM). Post recent unit price move, Minto NTM [next 12-month] total return of 20 per cent matches sector, but we still view it as a top two potential upgrade pick (particularly in a soft landing scenario) vs. top three to four before."