** Van rental company Northgate Plc's shares rise asmuch as 4.5 pct to more than a 6 1/2-year high, after Barclaysupgrades stock to "overweight" from "equal weight", citingimproving outlook for both its UK and Spanish operations
** Stock top pct gainer on the FTSE-250 Midcap index and touches high of 654.5p
** Barclays raises target price on stock to 710p from 555p,ahead of analysts mean target price on stock of 652.13p
** "With the new branch rollout adding c.8 branches to theUK network each year, established UK branches well positioned inan improving economy, and a Spanish business in the early stagesof recovery, we believe the next few years look positive forunderlying trading at Northgate," the analysts write in a note
** Out of the 8 analysts covering the stock, 5 have a"strong buy" or "buy" rating on it, according to Reuters data (RM: esha.vaish.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)
