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A general view of the construction site of a mine in Greece owned by an Eldorado Gold subsidiary.Reuters

Inside the Market's roundup of some of today's key analyst actions

Credit Suisse analyst Anita Soni is "waiting for the dust to settle" when it comes to mining company Eldorado Gold (ELD-T, EGO-N) due to "to a perception of higher political risk."

Specifically, she cites a number of factors: the "unsuccessfully attempted" military coup "aimed at overthrowing the democratically elected government in Turkey" on July 15; the country's president subsequently arresting members of the military; the firing or suspension of thousands of military, judiciary, and educators; and the declared state of emergency "expected to last three months or less ... aimed at eradicating those complicit in the coup."

This is Ms. Soni's understanding from a client conference call she says was held with the Deputy Prime Minister on July 21st: "Turkey was seen as a relatively stable operating base for EGO, and with the sale of the Chinese assets, is most of the production outside of Greece and 52 per cent of our (net asset value)."

As a result, Ms. Soni has downgraded the company's stock to "neutral" from "outperform," and reduced her target price to $5.25 (U.S.) from $7.00 to reflect this.

"Our underlying view of the assets remains unchanged," she says. "Ultimately, we expect a re-rating with EGO's streamlined focus on long life assets and improved relationship with Greece paving the way for growth."

The consensus is $5.75.

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CREIT (Canadian Real Estate Investment Trust, REF.UN-T) has "long been among the highest quality REITs in Canada," says Raymond James analyst Johann Rodrigues. "CREIT is one of only two Canadian REITs to have increased (their distributions) every year since one was instituted."

However, he says its current metrics make it "about the most 'expensive' the REIT has ever looked.

"We are thus downgrading the stock solely due to the REIT's strong relative performance to start the year and corresponding valuation premium," says Mr. Rodrigues. "We think the strong short-term outperformance is set to moderate and would recommend investors wait for a better entry point and are therefore downgrading the stock to Market Perform."

He has downgraded the company from "outperform" to "market perform." His price target of $47 (Canadian) remains unchanged. The consensus on the price of units is $49.19, according to Thomson Reuters.

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Semiconductor, solar and aerospace company Celestica (CLS-N) "delivered solid execution and a better than expected Q2 despite macro headwinds," says Canaccord Genuity analyst Robert Young. "New CEO Rob Mionis highlighted the company's first priority is to drive revenue and margin growth through an increased investment in sales and corporate development."

Mr. Young also called operational efficiencies in the semiconductor and solar businesses an opportunity. "We have greater confidence in the growth profile moving forward."

He has upgraded the company's rating to "buy" from "hold." Mr. Young's price target has also increased to $12 (U.S.) from $11. The consensus is $11.40 (U.S.).

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Oilfield services and equipment company Mullen Group Ltd. (MTL-T) had a "solid quarter with growth moving up the priority list," says CIBC Institutional Equity Research analyst Jon Morrison.

"The quarter was impressive on pretty much every front and we believe highlighted Mullen's relentless focus on cost controls across the platform. We also believe the company's historical strength of forgoing unprofitable work when the economics don't make sense clearly came through in the quarter. In addition to the earnings beat, we believe Mullen's increased focus on growth and expansion will bear fruit over the next 12-18 months and benefit shareholders well."

His price target has been increased to $18.50 from $17. The consensus is $17.53.

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Equipment distribution and rentals company Toromont Industries Ltd. (TIH-T) is "one of the best performing equipment stocks," says Canaccord Genuity analyst Yuri Lynk.

The company's stock is up 30 per cent year over year and 29 per cent year to date. "As a result, Toromont now appears fairly valued on most relative valuation measures, including bond yields."

The company is set to report second-quarter results on July 26 after market close. "We expect the quarter to feature some margin compression compared to last year, as a 5-per-cent year-over-year decline in the Canadian dollar should pressure new equipment, and the roll-off of several alternative energy projects should hurt rental utilization."

Mr. Lynk downgraded the company from "buy" to "hold," citing share price appreciation. He also raised his target price to $42 from $41. The consensus is $38.56.

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Energy production company Encana Corporation (ECA-N) had positive results and "encouraging" cost savings in its second quarter, but "the stock's outperformance to date no longer justifies a Sector Perform rating," says AltaCorp analyst Nicholas Lupick, who also noted financials and operations were both in line with consensus expectations.

"Management highlighted that they remain confident that the sale of both the DJ and Gordondale assets will close by the end of July and are expected to generate combined proceeds of  approximately $1.1-billion (U.S.)," says Mr. Lupick. However, he also noted the net proceeds for the DJ asset will be approximately $620-million – well below the initial sale price of $900-million.

Mr. Lupick lowered his rating to "underperform" from "sector perform." He also raised his price target to $8 (U.S.) from $7. The consensus is $9.40.

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