The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday, Feb. 6, edition that RBC Dominion Securities analyst Luke Davis has lowered his recommendation for Parkland to "sector perform" from "outperform." The Globe's David Leeder writes in the Eye On Equities column that Mr. Davis continues to target the shares at $54. Analysts on average target Parkland shares at $52.77. Mr. Davis thinks Parkland's base business is "in good shape heading into 2024 and remains well positioned to achieve prior guidance" despite a recent refinery disruption at its Burnaby facility. Mr. Davis issued his downgrade ahead of the release of Parkland's fourth quarter 2023 financial results later this month, citing "strong" recent performance and seeing "elevated uncertainty" related to recent board departures at Simpson Oil, which is its largest shareholder. Mr. Davis says in a note: "We believe Parkland is poised to reach 2.6 times/2.3 times leverage by year-end 2024/25, not inclusive of buybacks; the company has been active, repurchasing $26-million in stock during Q4. Management previously outlined an automated program, which we believe will be opportunistic but managed in the context of corporate leverage targets."