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A pedestrian walks past the Manulife building in downtown Vancouver.Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press

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

Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of Canada's life insurance sector, which, the bank says, is better positioned than its U.S. peer group to capitalize on an eventual rise in interest rates.

Christopher Giovanni, a Goldman Sachs analyst, issued a "neutral" recommendation on Manulife Financial Corp. with a $$22.50 (Canadian) 12-month price target. The analyst rates Sun Life Financial Inc. as a "buy," setting an initial target price of $43 (Canadian).

"Based on our view of Canadian insurers' relative strength and access to higher-margin businesses coupled with undemanding valuation, we see upside in both Sun Life and Manulife, but see more opportunity in Sun Life," Mr. Giovanni said.

The Canadian life insurance sector is the 11th largest in the world, but is more concentrated among fewer players than in other developed markets, Goldman Sachs said. Plus, penetration rates are low in Canada compared to the biggest insurance markets, leaving the Canadian lifecos plenty of room to grow.

But year to date, Canada's insurance stocks have underperformed the S&P/TSX composite index, the large-cap U.S. lifeco sector, and Canadian bank stocks. And since the financial crisis, Canada's insurers have lagged their global peers and are undervalued by comparison, Mr. Giovanni said.

Of the country's two biggest lifecos, Goldman Sachs prefers Sun Life for its greater exposure to higher-multiple businesses, like MFS Investment Management, the company's U.S. asset manager.

"MFS, a leading global asset manager, continues to outperform peers and meaningfully contribute to our favorable outlook for capital deployment," Mr. Giovanni said.

The Canadian insurance sector is well-positioned to distribute capital through dividends and/or share buybacks, he added.

"As many U.S. and global peers are further along in capital returns to shareholders, we see Canadian insurers providing the next wave," Mr. Giovanni said. "We see the initiation of more tactical capital management as a significant positive for Canadian insurers."

Also, accounting differences in the U.S. mean that Canadian lifecos are better adjusted for current macroeconomic challenges, the analyst said. That may give the Canadian sector better downside protection and greater upside exposure to an eventual rise in interest rates.

Since insurers make returns by reinvesting premiums, the sector is one of the few that is positively exposed to rising rates.

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Several analysts raised their price targets today on Bonterra Energy Corp. after the oil and gas producer announced an increase to its capital expenditure budget on Wednesday and bumped up its monthly dividend.

It now plans to spend $140-million this year, up from $120-million, with its dividend rising by a penny to 30 cents a share. The increased budget will allow the company to drill an additional six wells in the fourth quarter, but the company did not adjust its 2014 production guidance of 12,300 to 12,700 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

However, "after our conversation with management, we still suspect we will see an increase in production guidance this year," commented AltaCorp Capital Research analyst Jeremy McCrea.

He also noted that it wasn't surprising to see the dividend hike, given that Bonterra's payout in the first quarter only represented 50 per cent of funds from operations. The company could have opted to return more cash to shareholders.

"With increasing cash flow for 2014, management's decision to deploy capital into drilling more of its highly economic wells versus a higher dividend will be greeted quite favourably by investors we believe," Mr. McCrea said in a research note. He thinks the company should be able to grow production and cash flow per share at an above average rate.

Mr. McCrea raised his price target to $70 (Canadian) from $65 and maintained an "outperform" rating. CIBC World Markets also raised its target to $74 from $68 and Paradigm hiked its target to $70 from $65.

The analyst consensus price target over the next year is $65.33, according to Thomson Reuters.

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Lumenpulse Inc., the Montreal-based LED lighting company, is poised to capitalize on evolving demand trends, Raymond James analyst Steven Li said.

The company, which went public in April, has generated growth at a rate of almost 50 per cent per year over the last three years as "the need to reduce energy consumption has clearly bolstered the case for LED," Mr. Li said.

He initiated coverage of Lumenpulse's stock with an "outperform" rating and a $25 (Canadian) price target.

"The commercial lighting market is undergoing a dramatic transformation and Lumenpulse is in the thick of it," Mr. Li said. "We forecast Lumenpulse to continue growing faster than the market for several years to come."

The analyst consensus price target over the next year is $24.

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While Spartan Energy Corp. is trading at a premium, it's justified by the company's production growth outlook and the prospect of accretive acquisitions, Desjardins Securities analyst Kristopher Zack said.

Mr. Zack initiated coverage of Spartan stock with a "buy" rating and a $5 (Canadian) price target.

"We anticipate that Spartan will use its low cost of capital to augment organic growth with accretive acquisitions," he said.

The analyst consensus price target is $5.39.

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A fully funded, shovel-ready project and cheap share valuation relative to its peers has put Asanko Gold Inc. on Clarus Securities analyst Nana Sangmuah's list of top picks.

Asanko's Obotan project in Ghana is the largest undeveloped (and at the most advanced stage of development) gold project in West Africa that is fully funded and not owned by a major gold producer, says Mr. Sangmuah. "However, AKG trades at a discount to its less advanced peers who are yet to completely de-risk their projects by completing feasibility studies and arrange funding to build their respective projects."

Mr. Sangmuah maintains his "buy" rating and $4 target price. The analyst consensus price target for Asanko Gold over the next year is $3.48 (Canadian).

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In other analyst actions:

CIBC World Markets downgraded Augusta Resource to "sector performer" from "sector outperformer" and cut its price target to $3.56 (Canadian) from $4.75.

Raymond James downgraded Secure Energy Services to "outperform" from "strong buy" and maintained a $24 (Canadian) price target.

RBC Dominion Securities raised its price target on Chorus Aviation to $5.50 (Canadian) from $4.50 and maintained an "outperform" rating.

Paradigm Capital raised its price target on Lucara Diamond to $3.20 (Canadian) from $2.30 and maintained a "buy" rating.

CIBC World Markets raised its price target on Alimentation Couche-Tard to $34 (Canadian) from $31.67 and reiterated a "sector performer" rating.

CIBC World Markets raised its price target on Open Text to $60 (U.S.) from $55 and maintained a "sector outperformer" rating.

Canaccord Genuity hiked its price target on Monsanto to $155 (U.S.) from $135 and maintained a "buy" rating. Credit Suisse raised its target to $148 from $134 and reiterated an "outperform" rating.

Barclays initiated coverage on Amazon.com with an "equalweight" rating and $330 (U.S.) price target. It also started coverage on LinkedIn with an "equalweight" rating and $175 (U.S.) target, and on Facebook with an "overweight" rating and $78 (U.S.) target.

CIBC World Markets upgraded Exfo to "sector perform" from "sector underperform" and raised its price target to $5 (U.S.) from $4.

Imperial Capital downgraded United Continental to "in-line" from "outperform" and cut its price target to $47 (U.S.) from $55.

UBS upgraded Wisconsin Energy to "neutral" from "sell" and raised its price target to $46 (U.S.) from $44.

UBS raised its price target on Schlumberger to $140 (U.S.) from $120 and maintained a "buy" rating.

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