The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday, May 12, edition that Desjardins Securities analyst Doug Young has reaffirmed his "hold" recommendation for Great-West Lifeco. The Globe's David Leeder writes that Mr. Young boosted his share target to $39 from $37. Analysts on average target the shares at $38.60. Mr. Young says in a note: "While the focus will be more on learning how results look under the new accounting guidelines (IFRS 17/9), base EPS missed our forecast, and this was despite a lower-than-expected tax rate. Otherwise, there were some puts and takes, which we cover below, but there was nothing in these results to change our views." The Globe reported on Jan. 12 that Barclays analyst John Aiken rated Great-West "equal-weight." It was then worth $34. The Globe reported on Feb. 3 that Credit Suisse analyst Joo Ho Kim had reaffirmed his "neutral" call on Great-West, which was then worth $35.39. The Globe reported on Feb. 13 that CIBC World Markets analyst Paul Holden upgraded Great-West to "outperformer" from "neutral" with a $40 share target. Great-West shares could then be had for $35.97. The Globe's guest columnist Sean Pugliese recommended Great-West on Feb. 16 when it was going for $36.13.