The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday, Jan. 31, edition that Citi analyst Jon Tower has reaffirmed his "neutral" recommendation for Restaurant Brands International. The Globe's David Leeder writes in the Eye On Equities column that Mr. Tower cut his share target by $8 to $65 (all figures U.S.). Analysts on average target the shares at $80.19. Mr. Tower says in a note: "The company has demonstrated an ability to improve franchisee profitability in core home markets across the portfolio and we expect this broadly continues, along with strong unit growth for Burger King International, ramping of PLK [Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen] brand globally and solid comp growth at TH Canada. However, limited visibility into the economics of nascent businesses outside core markets means its difficult to underwrite NRG (new restaurant growth) returning to and sustaining at more than 5 per cent and layering this into valuation. At the same time, we see above average room for near- to medium-term estimate volatility related to the Burger King U.S. brand repositioning/reinvestment (including the integration of the TAST business) particularly as the competitive set struggles to drive traffic."