The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday, July 18, edition that Raymond James analyst Frederic Bastien has lowered his recommendation for Bird Construction to "outperform" from "strong buy." The Globe's Darcy Keith writes in the Eye On Equities column that Mr. Bastien continues to target the shares at $35. Mr. Bastien says share price appreciation was the main motivation for his rating downgrade. Mr. Bastien says in a note: "We don't like flip-flopping between recommendations, but Bird's 47-per-cent ascent since our April 22-25 upgrade is forcing our hand. While we are taking [downgrading the shares], we remain distinctly bullish on the contractor, keeping its rock-solid balance sheet, record backlog of low-risk projects and strong positioning for a potential nation-building exercise in mind. With the recent acquisition of Jacob Bros. providing additional avenues into Western Canada's non-discretionary infrastructure market and a healthy backlog of its own, we believe the contractor has what it takes to weather macro uncertainty in style." The Globe reported on April 23 that Mr. Bastien had upgraded Bird Construction to "strong buy" from "outperform." The shares could then be had for $20.64.