The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday, Oct. 2, edition that Desjardins Securities analyst Brent Stadler has upgraded his recommendation for Algonquin Power & Utilities to "buy" from "hold." The Globe's David Leeder writes in the Eye On Equities column that Mr. Stadler boosted his unit target to $6.25 from $6 (all figures U.S.). Analysts on average target the shares at $6. Mr. Stadler says in a note: "Over the past month, Algonquin has underperformed Canadian peers by 6.7 per cent and is now trading at an attractive 14.4 times 2027 estimated P/E multiple vs selected Canadian peers at 18.3 times. We also note that Missouri peer Ameren trades at 18.2 times, and we believe Ameren is an example of where a utility with a larger exposure to Missouri could trade, giving us further confidence in our upgrade. We expect to see signs of execution on pending rate cases and O&M efficiencies in the coming months, which should drive a multiple re-rate, in our view. We believe Algonquin has a top-notch management team, which is a key ingredient to success. Recall, CEO Rod West has significant utility experience and strong regulatory relationships, and interim CFO Brian Chin has over two decades of utility experience."