CIBC’s Paul Holden raised his target for Intact Financial Corp. to $225 from $210, keeping an “outperformer” rating, while Desjardins Securities’ Doug Young increased his target to $210 from $205 with a “buy” rating and Scotia’s Phil Hardie bumped his target to $207 from $200 with a “sector outperform” rating. The average is $208.50.
“Intact delivered another better-than-expected quarter that was characterized by strong results across Canada and the U.S.,” said Mr. Hardie. “What sets Q1/22 apart from recent quarters is that this was a relatively broad-based beat that was driven by better-than-expected underwriting profitability as well as distribution income. The company is off to a solid start in 2022, and we remain bullish on the outlook.
“Intact stock has delivered significant outperformance relative to the S&P/TSX Financials Index so far in 2022 and, on an absolute level, is up 8 per cent against a backdrop of a broad market sell-off. Intact remains our “Go-To” Defensive Quality name, and we believe it can be attractive for large-cap investors looking for a high-quality name to reduce portfolio beta that trades at a reasonable valuation.”