The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday, March 12, edition that Desjardins analyst Brent Stadler has elevated his recommendation for Algonquin Power & Utilities to "hold" from "sell." The Globe's Darcy Keith writes that Mr. Stadler issued his upgrade after Algonquin posted its quarterly results, which were a bit better than expected and provided renewed confidence that a sale of its renewables portfolio is nearing. Mr. Stadler boosted his share target by a buck to $5.75 (all figures U.S.). Analysts on average target the shares at $7.43. Mr. Stadler says in a note: "We still believe there are significant risks and uncertainty with the story, but some clarity could arrive shortly. We estimate almost $2.6-billion of proceeds for the renewables business and $2.1-billion of debt repayment, which could result in $400-million of buybacks. Given the diversity of Algonquin's renewables platform and our view of some underperformance in the fleet, we believe the buyer of the renewables platform will likely be strategic, which potentially limits the pool of buyers. Algonquin remains confident it will complete the renewables transaction at an appropriate valuation, with an announcement expected in the coming months."