The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday, Feb. 13, edition that Canaccord Genuity Canadian bank analyst Matthew Lee thinks "a favourable CET-up helps justify premium valuations" ahead of the start of the sector's first quarter earnings season later this month. The Globe's David Leeder writes in the Eye On Equities column that Mr. Lee continues to rate Royal Bank of Canada "buy." Mr. Lee hiked his share target to $255 from $242. Analysts on average target the shares at $236.82. Mr. Lee says in a note: "We believe that the group enters this year from a position of strength with record capital levels, strong fee-based revenue streams and recovering investment spending supporting high single-digit earnings growth. While NII will likely remain muted for the first half of the year on sluggish loan volumes, we forecast an acceleration in the second half providing support for double-digit earnings growth in F27. Given that Q1 earnings season comes just 80 days after Q4, we expect the group's rhetoric (and guidance) to remain largely unchanged but will certainly keep a keen eye on management's confidence in top-line growth and consumer credit. Overall, our current forecast contemplates industry-level organic EPS growth of 9.6 per cent for the year."