Stock picks on the TSX: What the top analysts are recommending
Investors who seek to buy stocks when there is fear in the market may want to also consider stocks recommended by the best analysts at North American brokerages. The analysts are deemed best-in-class on the grounds they have received a 5-star rating from data-analytics firm TipRanks.com. The rating is awarded to those analysts whose recommendations are most often right and have the highest average return, a group largely confined to the top 5 per cent of the 8,050 analysts surveyed.
Over the past week, the top analysts issued or reiterated thirty buy recommendations on Canadian stocks, with target prices that imply an upside potential greater than 25 per cent over the next 12-months. Warning label: the gains could take longer to show up if a substantial recession occurs in 2022, a risk that some top-down analysts say cannot be easily dismissed.
Stocks recommended by 5-star analysts (sorted by upside potential)
| COMPANY | | ANALYST | BROKERAGE | 12-MONTH UPSIDE POTENTIAL |
| Akumin Inc | AKU-T | Noel Atkinson | Clarus Securities | 863.2% |
| Data Comm Management | DCM-T | Noel Atkinson | Clarus Securities | 156.4% |
| Enerflex | EFX-T | John Gibson | BMO Capital | 99.0% |
| VerticalScope | FORA-T | Drew Mcreynolds | RBC Capital | 91.5% |
| Total Energy Services | TOT-T | Cole Pereira | Stifel Nicolaus | 78.5% |
| Ether Capital | ETHC-NE | Bill Papanastasiou | Stifel Nicolaus | 75.2% |
| Copperleaf Tech | CPLF-T | Robert Young | Canaccord Genuity | 74.1% |
| Rubellite Energy | RBY-T | Mike Murphy | BMO Capital | 69.6% |
| Headwater Exploration | HWX-T | Luke Davis | RBC Capital | 61.7% |
| Dexterra Group | DXT-T | Michael Doumet | Scotiabank | 58.3% |
| CES Energy Solutions | CEU-T | John Gibson | BMO Capital | 52.8% |
| CES Energy Solutions | CEU-T | Cole Pereira | Stifel Nicolaus | 52.8% |
| Cronos Group | CRON-T | Matt Bottomley | Canaccord Genuity | 51.0% |
| Fortuna Silver Mines | FVI-T | Dalton Baretto | Canaccord Genuity | 49.4% |
| Wheaton Precious Metals | WPM-T | Carey MacRury | Canaccord Genuity | 42.0% |
| Propel Holdings | PRL-T | Phil Hardie | Scotiabank | 41.3% |
| Peyto Exploration & Dev | PEY-T | Dan Payne | National Bank | 39.6% |
| goeasy | GSY-T | Mario Mendonca | TD Securities | 39.5% |
| Savaria | SIS-T | Michael Doumet | Scotiabank | 37.2% |
| Minto Apartment REIT | MI-UN-T | Matt Kornack | National Bank | 37.1% |
| CAE Inc. | CAE-T | Fadi Chamoun | BMO Capital | 34.8% |
| CAE Inc. | CAE-T | Steve Arthur | RBC Capital | 34.8% |
| Birchcliff Energy | BIR-T | Jeremy Mccrea | Raymond James | 32.3% |
| Birchcliff Energy | BIR-T | Robert Fitzmartyn | Stifel Nicolaus | 29.9% |
| Kinaxis | KXS-T | Paul Treiber | RBC Capital | 29.7% |
| Bird Construction | BDT-T | Frederic Bastien | Raymond James | 29.6% |
| Element Fleet | EFN-T | Graham Ryding | TD Securities | 28.7% |
| Element Fleet | EFN-T | Jaeme Gloyn | National Bank | 28.3% |
| Kinaxis | KXS-T | Robert Young | Canaccord Genuity | 26.6% |
| InterRent REIT | IIP-UN-T | Mario Saric | Scotiabank | 25.2% |
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Source: TipRanks
When more than one 5-star analyst is bullish on a stock, it could signal that there is a greater chance the 12-month price target will be reached. In the current batch, there were five companies that had buy recommendations from two analysts: Birchcliff Energy Ltd., CAE Inc., CES Energy Solutions Corp., Element Fleet Management Corp., and Kinaxis Inc. No companies were recommended by three or more analysts.