The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that BMO's Etienne Ricard has upgraded EQB to "outperform" from "market perform." The Globe's David Leeder writes that Mr. Ricard boosted his share target to a Street high $130 from $108. Analysts on average target the shares at $105.71. Mr. Ricard thinks EQB's $800-million acquisition of PC Financial from Loblaw is "strategically enhancing" and provides "an expanded customer outreach and a more diversified bank from asset, funding and revenue perspectives." He says in a note: "Further, there is upside from potential cross-selling synergies that would be supportive of a more loyal customer base and additive to forecasts. With improving confidence into returning to 15-per-cent ROE, the risk-reward appears favourable, with upside at $150 (1.5 times book) and downside at $85 (book value). ... EQB has the potential to raise EQ Bank deposits from acquired PC Financial customers. Based on a 20-per-cent cross-selling rate (i.e., comparable to other recent loyalty program partnerships), we believe EQ Bank could acquire 500K+ new customers (currently 600K), raise $1.5-billion in incremental deposits (currently $10-billion) and save $30-million in annual net interest expense."