The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday, Jan. 9, edition that CIBC World Markets analyst Paul Holden has upgraded his recommendation for iA Financial to "outperformer" from "neutral." The Globe's David Leeder writes in the Eye On Equities column that Mr. Holden boosted his share target to $184 from $175. Analysts on average target the shares at $168.40. Mr. Holden says in a note: "Execution has been strong and the stock has rerated significantly. We remain confident that management will continue to execute against its plan but believe this is well captured in consensus estimates and the valuation multiple. The stock has performed exceptionally well over the last 18 months and we think relative outperformance will be harder to achieve now that expectations and valuation multiples have both increased. Capital deployment, given excess capital, remains a potential source of upside relative to expectations." The Globe reported on Aug. 7 that National Bank analyst Gabriel Dechaine was maintaining his "sector perform" rating for iA Financial. It was then worth $142.14. The Globe reported on Nov. 7 that RBC Capital Markets analyst Darko Mihelic continued to rate iA Financial "sector perform." The shares could then be had for $161.33.