The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday, July 11, edition that Raymond James analyst Brad Sturges has commenced coverage on RioCan REIT with an "outperform" recommendation and a $20.50 unit target. The Globe's Darcy Keith writes in the Eye On Equities column that Mr. Sturges sees some positives coming out of store closures at Hudson's Bay, for which it is a co-landlord. He notes that RioCan's portfolio is weighted toward Canada's six largest urban markets with populations over one million. Mr. Sturges says in a note: "At March 31, RioCan's WALT (Weighted Average Lease Term) was about 7.9 years, for the third-longest WALT in the Canadian retail REIT sector, while about 88 per cent of RioCan's annualized net rent was derived from necessity-based retail tenants. The Hudson's Bay Company/s (HBC) recent CCAA protection filing store closures is expected to reduce income generated within the REIT's RioCan-HBC JV investment. We view the potential for RioCan to monetize a portion or all of its stabilized RioCan Living MFR platform at estimated fair market values (FMV), which can also improve its balance sheet strength by repaying debt and simplify its Canadian commercial portfolio, and act as a possible near-term positive catalyst."