BUZZ-Northgate: Barclays upgrade drives stock to over six-yr high

** Van rental company Northgate Plc (LSE: NTG.L - news) 's shares rise as much as 4.5 pct to more than a 6 1/2-year high, after Barclays (Swiss: BARC.SW - news) upgrades stock to "overweight" from "equal weight", citing improving 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 (LSE: BARC.L - news) 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 the UK network each year, established UK branches well positioned in an improving economy, and a Spanish business in the early stages of recovery, we believe the next few years look positive for underlying 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 (LSE: RM.L - news) : esha.vaish.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)