Why Raymond James Is Downgrading Excel Trust

In a report published Tuesday, analysts at Raymond James downgraded

from Outperform to Market Perform. The price target has also been revised from $15 to NM. The downgrade follows the 14 percent rise in the company's share price on Friday. Last week, the company announced the unanimous approval of the deal with

by Excel's board. Blackstone is to acquire Excel's shares at $15.85 per share via an all-cash transaction. "Based on our estimates, Blackstone is acquiring Excel at a ~7% premium to our $14.85 NAV estimate (consensus stands at $14.53) and an implied cap rate of 6.3% - which we view as a fair price for Excel shareholders," the analysts added. Raymond James does not expect a higher bid to emerge for Excel and the Blackstone bid to close later in 2015.