The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition that BMO Nesbitt Burns analyst Michael Markidis has lowered his recommendation for Northwest Healthcare Properties REIT to "market perform" from "outperform." The Globe's David Leeder writes in the Eye On Equities column that Mr. Markidis issued his rating downgrade in reaction to the termination of the REIT's U.K. joint venture plan. He slashed his unit target by $3 to $7. Analysts on average target the units at $9.21. Mr. Markidis says in a note: "Despite the recent sell-off, we believe the heightened uncertainty surrounding the REIT's capital structure, liquidity, and distribution will likely be an overhang for the foreseeable future. ... Northwest Healthcare will continue to source an alternative partner to recapitalize its U.K. portfolio. The reboot of this process may negatively impact Northwest Healthcare's ability to recapitalize the U.S. portfolio before the end of this year. Execution risk on non-core assets sales ($340-million at a weighted average cap rate of 5.75 per cent before the end of this year) is less of an issue, in our view. ... Future monetary policy tightening could put further upward pressure on interest expense in the near term."