Upgrade

Mizuho Securities USA analysts Haendel St. Juste and Ravi Vaidya upgraded their call on shopping center real estate investment trust Kimco Realty Corp. to "buy" from "neutral," with a price target of $20. The analysts expect improved earnings for the REIT this year as concerns about lack of growth, valuation, tenant and consumer credit are now seen as less of a risk.

Downgrades

The Mizuho analysts also downgraded Federal Realty Investment Trust to "neutral" from "buy," with a price target on the stock of $101. The analysts cited the shopping center REIT's elevated exposure to the troubled office sector, particularly its Santana Row asset in San Jose.

__________________

BTIG analysts Michael Gorman and Fisher Rhodes lowered Global Net Lease's price target to $15 from $19 and maintained their "buy" rating on the stock. The new price target represents what the analysts said is a more reasonable valuation following Global Net Lease's acquisition of The Necessity Retail REIT Inc.

The company's higher exposure to multitenant retail properties and lower exposure to industrial assets following the acquisition might be a potential flag for investors, the analysts said. However, lower exposure to the troubled office sector as a result of the merger may be seen as net positive.

Reiteration

Evercore ISI analysts James Kammert, Sanket Agrawal and Steve Sakwa retained Essential Properties Realty Trust Inc.'s "outperform" rating and $29 price target.

The analysts said they reiterated their rating due to the REIT's sound balance sheet, visibility of external growth and solid liquidity position.The size and timing of Essential Properties' issuance of 10.4 million shares will have no impact on funds from operations and adjusted FFO estimates for 2023, they added.