UPDATE: Bernstein Upgrades AIG (AIG) to Outperform, Raises Target to $45

(Updated - April 4, 2012 11:14 AM EDT)

AIG (NYSE: AIG) shares are outperforming the broader stock market by a wide margin Wednesday morning following an earlier upgrade from Bernstein.

Analyst Josh Stirling boosted his investment rating on AIG shares from Market Perform to Outperform and also raised his price target from $29 to $45. Stirling believes AIG will be able to sell the previously-discussed $22 billion in non-core assets over the next several months. The analyst said the government's stake in AIG might even be able to be closed before this year's elections in November, an event which could boost the company's book value by 20-30 percent and earnings by 30-50 percent.

Still, a warning was given: "While we believe investors will benefit from the government's focused efforts to clear their stake by November, AIG's selling non-core AIA, ILFC, and Maiden requires the 'risk on' environment to persist."

AIG shares last traded at $31.38, up about 1.7 percent from Tuesday's close.

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