The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that National Bank analyst Maxim Sytchev has downgraded Aecon Group to "sector perform" from "outperform." The Globe's David Leeder writes in the Eye On Equities column that Mr. Sytchev, however, boosted his share target by $2 to $30. Analysts on average target the shares at $30.09. Mr. Sytchev now thinks the risk-reward proposition for Aecon Group has "normalized." He warns investors "2026 forecasts are great but we still need to get through 2025." Mr. Sytchev says in a note: "With government goodies being doled out at the provincial/federal levels and focus on fringe issues like bike lanes that would typically be the purview of municipal-level conversations, we surmise that having a marquee project operational in the short term is unlikely (in addition to previously telegraphed six months heads up that Metrolinx would need to give to the province; suggesting that H2/25E is a more realistic timeline, hopefully). Well, that means that Q4/24E and H1/25E impute three quarters of haggling around who is paying for what and how much. And because the provincial government is disbursing stimulus on the one hand, why would it be 'gentle' when it comes to final negotiations?"