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The Scotiabank branch at 2080 Queen St. East in Toronto's Beach neighbourhood is photographed on March 5, 2014.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail

Inside the Market's roundup of some of today's key analyst actions. This file will be updated during the trading day.

Analysts are hiking their price targets on Bank of Nova Scotia after its earnings beat on Tuesday, impressed by the bank's strong domestic showing as well as improving international numbers.

Scotiabank reported fiscal second-quarter adjusted cash earnings per share of $1.40, above the consensus call of $1.31. Canadian banking, wealth and insurance, and global banking and markets, all posted impressive year-over-year results.

"With gradually improving International numbers, strong domestic performance and a building war chest for deployment, our shorter-term view is converging with our positive long-term thesis. For now, our rating stays at sector performer and our price target increases to $73 from $70," commented CIBC World Markets analyst Robert Sedran.

RBC Dominion Securities analyst Darko Mihelic raised his price target to $72 (Canadian) from $70 and reiterated an "outperform" rating.

He noted Scotiabank's revenues in the quarter of $5.801-billion came in better than his $5.662-billion estimate, thanks to higher core net interest income and trading revenues.

"Overall, we view this quarter positively given the revenue beat, an in-line quarter for loan losses, as well as lower than forecast non-interest expenses," Mr. Mihelic said.

He thinks that Scotiabank, which signalled it may sell its stake in CI Financial, will be patient in finding a buyer and believes the bank has ample ways to deploy capital to offset the lost earnings of about 18 cents a share in 2015 from a potential sale. "Moreover, we view the net interest margin stabilization and expense control in International positively this quarter, and continue to have a positive stance on this business with forecast earnings growth of 13 per cent year over year in 2015," he said.

Elsewhere, Canaccord Genuity raised its target to $73 from $71 and reiterated a "buy" rating and National Bank Financial raised its target to $74 from $73 and reiterated an "outperform" rating.

The average price target is now $71.78, up from $69.26 a month ago, according to Thomson Reuters data.

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Credit Suisse has added Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. to its U.S. Focus List, now considering the stock to be one of its top investment ideas in the entire American equity market.

It reiterated an "outperform" rating and $205 price target on the railway's U.S.-listed shares, which would imply a 24 per cent upside over the next 12 months from current levels.

"Canadian Pacific is one of our highest-conviction ideas in the transport sector," Credit Suisse said in a note. "The company is on the precipice of its next leg of growth -- the transformation from a cost-turnaround story to one of controlled, sustainable, and profitable revenue generation."

"The company should see significant earnings growth over the next few years on the heels of continued margin improvement, an acceleration in revenue growth (specifically in more profitable commodity types), improved capital efficiency, continued shareholder returns, and opportunities to improve the capital structure and dispose of surplus assets," it added.

The analyst consensus price target over the next year is $182.22 (U.S.).

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The U.S. housing recovery appears to be slowing down and that's bad news for Lowe's Cos Inc., Canaccord Genuity analyst Laura Champine said.

The home improvement retailer's stock has increased by almost 85 per cent since the beginning of 2012 on a surge in housing activity, well outpacing the gains made by the ascendant S&P 500 index over that time.

"The stock is currently trading at a premium to historical multiples despite no real change to growth prospects," Ms. Champine said. "We think investors will heighten their focus on underlying fundamentals as [housing] momentum slows."

Canaccord downgraded Lowe's to a "sell" from a "hold," and reduced its price target to $37 (U.S.) from $47. The analyst consensus price target is $52.82.

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Parkland Fuel Corp. is well positioned to build on its foothold in the fuel distribution market, RBC Dominion Securities analyst Dillon Culhane said. He upgraded Parkland's stock to "outperform" from "sector perform" and raised his price target to $23 (Canadian) from $22.

Parkland, the country's largest independent distributor and marketer of commercial and retail fuels, recently lost a chunk of business when its contract with Suncor expired at the end of 2013.

"The company has done a good job replacing the economic benefit of this contract through acquisitions and multiple supply agreements," Mr. Culhane said. As a result, the company generated record EBITDA in the first quarter.

"We believe that it can sustainably replace its profitability going forward, but it must demonstrate this to the market."

Investors also benefit from a stable dividend at a current yield of about 5 per cent. Plus, Parkland trades at a discounted multiple of 8.4 times estimated 2014 EBITDA, compared to a peer group average of 9.8 times, Mr. Culhane said.

The analyst consensus price target over the next year is $21.78.

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The acquisition of land rights close to Alamos Gold Inc.'s Mulatos mine in Mexico bodes well for the company's stock, said Desjardins Securities analyst Michael Parkin.

Production from the La Yaqui and Cerro Pelon deposits should improve the company's cost profile as they have higher grades than Mulatos' current budgeted reserve grade for 2014, he said.

Mr. Parkin maintains his "buy – above average risk" rating and $13 (Canadian) price target. The analyst consensus price target over the next year is $13.58.

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In other analyst actions:

BMO Nesbitt Burns cut its target on Bellatrix Exploration to $13.50 (Canadian) from $14.50 and reiterated an "outperform" rating.

Beacon Securities raised its price target on Input Capital to $3.75 (Canadian) from $3.25 and reaffirmed a "buy" rating. Acumen Capital Research raised its target to $3.60 from $3.50 and reiterated a "speculative buy" rating.

Deutsche Bank downgraded Dollar General to "hold" from "buy" and cut its price target to $60 (U.S.) from $65.

Nomura Securities upgraded Twitter to "buy" from "neutral" with a price target of $43 (U.S.).

Piper Jaffray upgraded Williams-Sonoma to "overweight" from "neutral" and raised its price target to $85 (U.S.) from $71.

Bernstein raised its price target on Apple to $700 (U.S.) from $615 and reiterated an "outperform" rating.

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