The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday, Sept. 20, edition that CIBC World Markets analyst Paul Holden has lowered his recommendation for National Bank of Canada to "neutral" from "outperformer." The Globe's David Leeder writes that Mr. Holden continues to target the shares at $135. Analysts on average target the shares at $127.38. Mr. Holden says in a note: "Our downgrade is premised on relative valuation and less emphasis on the need to play defense within banks, both of which support the argument for switch trades from higher multiple bank stocks to lower multiple bank stocks. We also like TD for a switch trade. Toronto-Dominion Bank is trading at a 7-per-cent discount to the group average P/E (NTM [next 12-month] consensus) vs. a historical premium of 5 per cent. We expect the discount to narrow when an AML global settlement is reached, which is expected by end of 2024. Despite the AML costs, TD is still a top three Canadian bank for ROE, organic capital generation and has a strong deposit franchise. TD has been posting solid fundamental results, and we think concerns over future earnings growth have been exaggerated. We also believe the CEO succession signals a global AML settlement is close."