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Bombardier employees work on CSeries 300 jets at the company's plant on September 28, 2017 in Mirabel, Que. Chicago-based Boeing Co. has won Round 1 in its bitter fight with Bombardier Inc., with the U.S. Commerce Department allowing an enormous 219 per cent tariff on the Montreal-based company's CSeries passenger jets. The tariff, if it becomes a reality, would triple the cost of the jets and jeopardize thousands of jobs in Canada, the U.K. and elsewhere. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan RemiorzThe Canadian Press

Inside the Market's roundup of some of today's key analyst actions

Raymond James cut its price target for Crown Capital Partners Inc. (CRWN-T) due to a slower pace of growth.

"Our favourable outlook on Crown is based on the opportunity for meaningful growth in its managed loan portfolio, the fee generation inherent in its business model and its dividend growth prospects. We currently focus on Crown's pace of capital deployment, the catalyst for interest income, and in the case of special situations loans, fees and equity kicker appreciation. After a busy 2Q17 ($65-million deployed through Fund IV), deployment slowed to nil in 3Q17, while Petrowest entered receivership and Medicure (MPH-TSX) announced its attention to repay. We maintain a positive view on the growth prospects for this company; however, our current estimates imply a slower pace of BVPS [book value per share] growth," said analyst Brenna Phelan.

She cut her price target to $11.50 from $12 but maintained her "outperform" rating. The consensus is $12, according to Thomson Reuters.

"Our $11.50 target price is based on 1.0x our revised 4Q18E BVPS forecast, which we believe is appropriate considering the overall outlook for Crown's loan portfolio, the IRRs of loans repaid to date, and its relatively high earnings and dividend growth outlook."

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CIBC trimmed some of its estimates on RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust (REI.UN-T) after the company gave an update on its strategic plan.

"RioCan delivered an update on its previously disclosed strategic plan; additional details of the "flexible" strategic direction of what the REIT could look like by 2020 were provided, affording investors a more detailed road map to its stated goal of an increasingly major market focus. While the details of its ultimate plan are still a "live document" and somewhat opaque, at the margin we view the progression and potential acceleration of the plan in a positive light. Reflecting an accelerated timeline of dispositions and incorporating unit buyback assumptions, our 2018E FFO [funds flow from operations] and AFFO [adjusted funds flow from operations] are lowered to $1.76 per unit and $1.57 per unit, respectively. As the bulk of the dispositions would take effect by 2019, on an unchanged NOI [net operating income] run rate, our NAV [net asset value] is maintained at $27.00/unit," said analyst Dean Wilkinson.

That's down from $1.80 per unit and $1.61, respectively.

"RioCan announced an update to its strategy of growing its footprint in the six major markets through $2 bln. in dispositions (about 12 million sq. ft.) in secondary markets. The timeline of the dispositions is expected to run through to the end of 2019. Half the net proceeds of $1.5-billion will be allocated towards repurchasing units, while the REIT anticipates investing $300-million to $400-million into its development pipeline per year. Concurrent with the update the REIT has suspended its DRIP."

He kept his "outperformer" rating and its $27 price target. The consensus is $27.66.

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Canaccord Genuity Global Research downgraded Pengrowth Energy Corp. (PGF-T;PGH-N) after the stock has had a strong run.

"Our thesis on Pengrowth revolved around a combination of potential catalysts through asset dispositions, an inexpensive valuation, and the ability to start construction on the Phase 2 expansion at Lindbergh (given a recovering commodity price). While we still believe the company will eventually sanction the expansion at Lindbergh given the reservoir quality, we view financing the project as relatively difficult in the current commodity price environment. We continue to believe management is doing an upstanding job with respect to managing the remaining assets and completing its disposition targets in a tough market, but the recent share price appreciation exceeds our estimated fundamental value of its assets at current commodity prices," said analyst Dennis Fong.

He lowered his rating on Pengrowth to "sell" from "hold" but modestly increased his price target to 90 cents per share from 85 cents "which is about 0.9 times (unchanged) our CNAV [current net asset value] of 99 cents per share (92 cents previously) and reflects our outlook on commodities."

The consensus is 90 cents.

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Desjardins Capital Markets remains bullish on Bombardier Inc. (BBD.B-T) after FlightGlobal's webcast on the business jet market.

"Overall, we are pleased with the encouraging signs seen so far, as bizjets represent a key driver of BBD's profitability. In our view, these improving conditions have the potential to offset the overhang from Boeing's petition. We are maintaining our bullish stance on Bombardier and still see sizeable upside potential for long-term investors ($5/share)," said analyst Benoit Poirier.

"Key highlights include: (1) signs of pricing stabilization for the pre-owned market; (2) 10 per cent year over year increase in secondary sales transactions in 1H17; (3) pre-owned inventory down 8–20 per cent year over year and now back to the level prior to the downturn; and (4) increasing flight activity in the US and in Europe."

"We view these encouraging signs as positive for BBD as they represent an important part of its profitability. In 2020, we expect bizjets to generate about 35 per cent of BBD's consolidated revenue (about 30 per cent in 2017) and about 50 per cent  of its consolidated adjusted EBIT [earnings before interest and taxes]," he said.

He maintained his "buy" rating and his $3.25 price target. The consensus is $2.88

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Mackie Research Capital Corp. lowered its target for Medicure Inc. (MPH-X) after the company sold Apicore to an anonymous company for $105-million (U.S.).

"We are removing Apicore from our model. In addition, we are lowering our 2017 Aggrastat sales estimates due to the recent Canadian dollar appreciation against the U.S. dollar," said analyst Andre Uddin.

He maintained his "buy" rating on the stock but cut his price target to $12 from $13.40. The consensus is $11.75.

"Our valuation is based on applying a 3.7 times EV [enterprise value]/Sales to our new 2018 revenues estimates of $39.1-million," he said.

"The sale represents an 82 per cent return (MPH used a total of $57.75-million U.S. cash and debt to initially acquire Apicore). MPH is receiving a total of $105-million (U.S.) (via two payments) and is also eligible for undisclosed contingent milestones. MPH is going to use the proceeds to fully repay its approx. $61-million (Canadian) long-term debt and to fund potential product acquisitions," he said.

"Due to the recent CAD appreciation against the USD , as well as, the sale of Apicore, we are revising our financial estimates: Q3 and Q4 total revenues estimates are lowered to $22.5-million (Canadian) and $9.7-million, respectively, versus previous $24.5-million and $34-million. Q3 and Q4 f.d. EPS estimates are reduced to 23 cents and 4 cents, respectively, versus previous 31 cents and 69 cents. We are also lowering our revenues and f.d. EPS estimates from 2018 to 2020. Investors should note that our model does not assume any potential sales from the three cardiovascular ANDAs that are currently in development (one should be approved in H1 2018). "

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