The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday, Feb. 18, edition that National Bank Financial analyst Maxim Sytchev has reaffirmed his "outperform" recommendation for Colliers International Group. The Globe's David Leeder writes in the Eye On Equities column that Mr. Sytchev lowered his share target to $160 from $185 (all figures U.S.). Analysts on average target the shares at $175.54. Mr. Sytchev says in a note: "The [fourth quarter] was weaker than expected, weighed by flat organic engineering growth and a more material pullback in investment management margins while management consolidates operations under a unified HS [Harrison Street] platform. ... There are several positive structural factors that keep us bullish on the Colliers thesis. Firstly, a 10-times forward EV/EBITDA multiple for highly visible mid-teens revenue/EBITDA/EPS growth is borderline punitive in a market still trading at near-record valuations. Secondly, there is an increasing amount of evidence to suggest that AI is more of a productivity-enabler and cost-mitigator vs. something that will gut consulting and transaction oriented work, especially in engineering where legal and professional liability hurdles create a moat."