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Inside the Market's roundup of some of today's key analyst actions. This file will be updated often during the trading day so check back for new details.

Laurentian Bank of Canada (LB-T) is starting to benefit from its initiatives to bolster its mortgage and commercial loans business alongside a quickening pace of mutual fund sales, said Desjardins Securities analyst Doug Young.

On Wednesday, the bank reported second-quarter earnings per share of $1.38, slightly ahead of the consensus forecast of $1.30. Mr. Young pointed to lower-than-expected provisions for credit losses and "solid" loan growth as positives, but he tempered his enthusiasm by pointing to the presence of an unexpected one-time gain on hedges.

He is also concerned about the rise in the bank's efficiency ratio, an indicator of how much it pays on operating expenses (with a figure lower than 60 per cent considered optimal). Laurentian's ratio rose to 71.9 per cent, an increase of 0.5 per cent on the quarter and 0.2 per cent year over year, which Mr. Young attributes to "elevated" staffing levels and rising project expenses.

"The efficiency ratio is likely to rise until revenue growth takes hold," said Mr. Young. "In addition, further attrition in the acquired higher-margin investment loan book and increased competition could weigh on total bank loan growth and margins near-term."

Calling the results "decent," he maintained his "hold" rating while raising his price target to $50 from $49 (Canadian). The analyst consensus target price is $50.60, according to Thomson Reuters.

Canaccord Genuity analyst Scott Chan also raised his target by a loonie to $50, and he also kept a "hold" rating.

RBC Dominion Securities' analyst Darko Mihelic bumped his target to $51 from $48 with a "sector perform" rating.

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Credit Suisse analyst Michael Exstein reduced his U.S. mall anchor sector weighting from "market weight" to "under weight," suggesting there are signs that these companies are approaching a "cyclical peak."

The sector includes Belk Inc.(BLKIB-Q2), The Bon-Ton Stores Inc. (BONT-Q), Dillard's Inc. (DDS-N), Macy's Inc. (M-N), JCPenney Company Inc. (JCP-N), Kohl's Corp. (KSS-N), Neiman Marcus Group Ltd. LLC (private), Nordstrom Inc. (JWN-N), and Stage Stores Inc. (SSI-N).

Additionally, Mr. Exstein downgraded the ratings for the stocks of both Nordstrom Inc., from "outperform" to "neutral," and Dillard's Inc., from "neutral" to "underperform."

He said: "Historically, leveraging events have tended to precede cyclical peaks. With the mall anchor group in the midst of their sixth year of recovery, leveraging events such as accelerating capital spending, a step-up of [mergers and acquisitions] activity, and increasing speculation of real estate monetization are all forms of financial leveraging events."

The analyst pointed out, with the exception of JC Penney, the group's capital spending increased for the fourth consecutive year in 2014 and is set to grow 23 per cent in 2015 to reach the peak level of 2007. However, he said it will be "challenging" to sustain returns based on that capital.

He said departmental store sales recovered to peak 2007 levels in 2014 based largely on the growth in the footwear, accessories and beauty (FAB) categories. He said FAB sales have "plateaued" and are reaching an "inflection" point.

"This leaves department stores more vulnerable to the challenges that other retail formats have faced particularly around women's apparel for the last five years, including deflationary trends and increased competition from off-pricers and fast fashion retailers," said Mr. Exstein.

He  lowered his price target for Nordstrom from $85 to $76 (U.S.). The consensus is $77.50.

"Despite its opportunities for market share gains, Nordstrom is not immune to the cyclical challenges facing the mall anchor industry as a whole," he said. "These include accelerating capex, plateauing FAB growth, additional leveraging events and apparel deflation."

For Dillard's, he lowered his price target to $100 from $105 (U.S.). The consensus is $125.50.

"Having executed one of the more memorable turnarounds in recent retail history, DDS now faces the cyclical challenges confronting much of the rest of the industry," Mr. Exstein said. "These include accelerating capex, plateauing FAB growth, additional leveraging events and apparel deflation. With [selling, general and administrative expense] dollars growing again and sales flat, we believe that operating margins will trend down; without sales growth we believe that earnings at best are likely to be flat even with aggressive share repurchase assumptions."

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Detour Gold Corp (DGC-T) appears to have "turned a corner" with its mining rates, said Credit Suisse analyst Anita Soni.

After market on Wednesday, the company announced a mining rate of 271 kilotons per day during the past three months, above its guidance of 245 and its first-quarter result of 220, due largely to better drilling rates and shovel productivity. It raised its guildance to 250-290 ktpd for the remainder of 2015, and Ms. Soni increased her 2016 estimate to 313 ktpd from 265 as well as her grade estimate.

The company also said its dual-circuit mill well was also outperforming estimates, though Ms. Soni called that "less of a surprise."

She raised her price target to $17 from $16 (Canadian) and maintained her "outperform" rating. The analyst consensus is $12.84.

"We rate DGC Outperform due to its improving [free cash flow] and long reserve life in a safe mining jurisdiction, which in our view makes it a potential take-out candidate," she said.

TD securities analyst Daniel Earle raised his target to $20 from $17.50 with a "buy" rating.

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CIBC World Markets analyst David Noseworthy called Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners LP (BEP.UN-T) "a core holding in the Canadian independent power producer (IPP) space."

Mr. Noseworthy initiated coverage of the stock with a "sector outperformer" rating, a price target of $43 (Canadian) and a 20-per-cent total 12-month return. The consensus analyst price target is $35.69.

"Brookfield Renewable is pursuing a three-pronged growth strategy of acquisitions, development, and optimization," he said. "On an unrisked basis, should Brookfield Renewable execute on its plan as guided, we estimate it would add about $19.50/unit of value to its base business. On a risk-weighted basis our price target reflects $5.50/unit of this value. Therefore, there is upside to our price target as Brookfield Renewable executes on its growth strategy."

He said he is anticipating several catalysts for Brookfield in the near term, including the potential acquisition of 57.6 per cent of Colombia's Isagen S.A., which he estimated to be worth $2.2-billion.

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JPMorgan analyst Philip Cusick downgraded Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ-N) to "neutral" from "overweight," believing competitor AT&T Inc. (T-N) provides more potential upside for investors.

At the same time, he upgraded AT&T to "overweight" from "neutral."

"While the acquisition of AOL provides a significant advertising technology platform for Verizon, any substantial revenue impact could take a few years to materialize," said Mr. Cusick. "We do not see any significant near-term catalyst for the stock and at this point prefer AT&T to Verizon due to AT&T's dividend yield of 5.4 per cent versus Verizon's 4.5 per cent and potential cost structure improvements."

Mr. Cusick maintained his price target of $55 (U.S.) for Verizon. The analyst consensus is $51.78.

He raised his AT&T target to $40 from $35. Consensus is $34.35.

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Tuesday's investor day for Air Canada (AC-T) was a "milestone event" for the company, said CIBC World Markets analyst Kevin Chiang.

"Back in 2013, the airline held its inaugural investor day, and while the company laid out a multi-year plan with some lofty financial targets, there was some skepticism as to whether these were achievable," he said. "We would argue that not only has the company met/exceeded expectations, management is far from done in transforming AC into a more investable company. We make this point because we continue to believe there is a segment of the investing community that views AC through a legacy lens. It is these legacy concerns that has AC trading at a discount valuation.

"While opinions can be hard to change, the facts instead support a different narrative. AC has made great progress in just a handful of years, and despite some investor anxiety over its capacity growth, it is hard to argue against the significant step up in the company's profitability and much improved balance sheet. The company's strategy has shifted from survival mode just a decade ago to creating a sustainable business model."

Mr. Chiang said that, given its financial targets going forward and utilizing an "inline multiple with U.S. legacy carriers," the company's share price has 65 per cent upside potential.

He raised his price target to $18.50 from $17.50 (Canadian) and kept his "sector outperformer" rating. The analyst consensus is $18.33.

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In other analyst actions:

Altera Corp (ALTR-Q) was downgraded to "market perform" from "outperform" at FBR Capital Markets by equity analyst Christopher Rolland. The 12-month target price is $54 (U.S.) per share.

Aon PLC (AON-N) was rated new "neutral" at Piper Jaffray by equity analyst Daniel Farrell. The 12-month target price is $107 (U.S.) per share.

Canamax Energy Ltd (CAC-X) was rated new "buy" at Acumen Capital by equity analyst Trevor Reynolds. The 12-month target price is $1 (Canadian) per share.

Cavium Inc (CAVM-Q) was raised to "buy" from "hold" at Needham & Co. by equity analyst N Quinn Bolton. The 12-month target price is $85 (U.S.) per share.

Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd (CP-N) was rated new "outperform" at Sanford Bernstein by equity analyst David Vernon. The 12-month target price is $200 (U.S.) per share.

Dillard's Inc (DDS-N) was downgraded to "underperform" from "neutral" at Credit Suisse by equity analyst Michael Exstein. The target price is $100 (U.S.) per share.

Destiny Media Technologies Inc (DSY-X) was downgraded to "market perform" from "speculative buy" at Cormark Securities by equity analyst Hubert Mak. The 12-month target price is $0.75 (Canadian) per share.

Genuine Parts Co (GPC-N) was raised to "outperform" from "neutral" at Wedbush by equity analyst Seth Basham. The 12-month target price is $108 (U.S.) per share.

Goldman Sachs BDC Inc (GSBD-N) was downgraded to "market perform" from "outperform" at Raymond James by equity analyst Robert Dodd.

Home Properties Inc (HME-N) was rated new "market perform" at Cowen by equity analyst James Sullivan. The 12-month target price is $78 (U.S.) per share.

Nordstrom Inc (JWN-N) was downgraded to "neutral" from "outperform" at Credit Suisse by equity analyst Michael Exstein. The target price is $76 (U.S.) per share.

Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc (MNTA-Q) was rated new "buy" at Stifel by equity analyst Thomas Shrader. The 12-month target price is $26 (U.S.) per share.

Parsley Energy Inc (PE-N) was rated new "outperform" at Oppenheimer by equity analyst Robert Du Boff. The 12-month target price is $23 (U.S.) per share.

AT&T Inc (T-N) was raised to "overweight" from "neutral" at JPMorgan by equity analyst Philip Cusick. The target price is $40 (U.S.) per share.

Morgan Stanley downgraded Energizer (ENR-N) from "overweight" to "equalweight."

Brown-Forman Corp. (BF.B-N; BF.A-N) was raised to "Buy" from "Hold" at Pivotal Research. The 12-month target price is $125 (U.S.) per share.

Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. (CF-T) was raised to "Buy" from "Hold" at TD Securities. The 12-month target price is $8.50 (Canadian) per share.

Groupon Inc. (GRPN-Q) was downgraded to "Neutral" from "Buy" at B. Riley. The 12-month target price is $7 (U.S.) per share.

Landstar System Inc. (LSTR-Q) was downgraded to "Neutral" from "Outperform" at Macquarie. The 12-month target price is $67 (U.S.) per share.

With files from Bloomberg News

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