The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday, Jan. 20, edition that Desjardins Securities analyst Benoit Poirier raised his financial projections for Canadian Pacific Railway following the release of largely in-line fourth quarter results, expecting U.S. tax reform, a pension tailwind and land sales to boost 2018 earnings growth. The Globe's David Leeder writes in the Eye On Equities column that on Thursday, CP reported fully diluted earnings per share for the quarter of $3.22, exceeding Mr. Poirier's expectation by three cents and the Street's consensus by two cents. He calls CP's operating ratio of 56 per cent, which also topped his forecast (56.7 per cent) and improved by 2 per cent from the previous year, "strong" despite facing headwinds from rising fuel costs and the Canadian dollar's appreciation. He says CP's "strong" outlook for the first quarter, backed by "robust" fundamentals, sets the stage for an "encouraging" 2018. Mr. Poirier rates CP "buy." He continues to target the shares at $254. Analysts on average target the shares at $246.83. Mr. Poirier says in a note, "We continue to like the name and still have confidence that CP has the key ingredients to close the valuation gap vs peers."