UPDATE: Jefferies Downgrades Government Properties Income Trust to Underperform, Lowers PT on Limited Options to Boost Growth

In a report published Monday, Jefferies analyst Omotayo Okusanya downgraded the rating on

from Hold to Underperform, and lowered the price target from $23.00 to $19.00. In the report, Jefferies noted, “We are downgrading GOV shares to Underperform from Hold. The primary underlying issue, in our view, is that GOV faces declining earnings amid ongoing weakness from government related tenants and has limited funding options to drive external growth. We also remain unconvinced that GOV's investment in SIR will be enough to offset these negative trends. For more details, please see our 2015 REIT outlook.” Government Properties Income Trust closed on Friday at $23.39.