CanaccordGenuity Inc. analyst RyanMeliker cut his investment opinion of Education Realty Trust Inc. to "hold" from "buy,"and decreased his price target to $43 from $46.

The analyst wrote in a research report: "We are downgradingEDR … following a disappointing leasing update last week. While we believe in thestudent housing sector and EDR shares over the long term, we expect 2018 estimatesto move lower and fear a re-rating of the stock to a lower valuation following anotherleasing challenge, this time at EDR's largest campus, the University of Kentucky(UK). With same-store growth expected to be lackluster through 2018, and 2018 estimateslikely to move lower, we no longer expect EDR to grow its valuation premium (weestimate EDR currently trades at a 5% premium to NAV). The stock only traded down3% since the news, but we expect upside to remain limited as the market digeststhe above ramifications."