The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday, March 5, edition that Desjardins Securities analyst Doug Young has reaffirmed his "buy" recommendation for Power Corp. of Canada. The Globe's David Leeder writes in the Eye On Equities column that Mr. Young gave his share target a $4 boost to $53. Analysts on average target the shares at $52.86. Mr. Young says in a note: "The company has executed on various initiatives since the POW/PWF reorganization (in 2020): (1) achieving 100 per cent of targeted expense reductions; (2) launching new funds and raising third-party capital; (3) simplifying its corporate structure; (4) realizing value on certain core investments; and (5) realizing value in non-core investments. Further actions to surface value are a possibility. It has $600-million in excess cash, and it has levers it can pull to increase this by (1) monetizing standalone businesses (depending on market conditions); and (2) harvesting seed capital investments in various funds by selling into secondary offerings. It deployed $120-million to buy back 3.1 million shares in 3Q24, $123-million to buy back 2.7 million shares in 4Q24 and so far in 1Q25 it has purchased an additional 1.6 million shares for $71-million."