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Sherritt’s logo pictured during their annual general meeting in Toronto, May 24, 2007.J.P. Moczulski/Reuters

Sherritt International Corp. has limited upside after Wednesday's massive gain, according to Desjardins Securities.

Shares of the company spiked by 26 per cent to $2.87 amid the announcement of policy changes by U.S. President Barack Obama which ease relations between the United States and Cuba.

Sherritt produces oil, gas, nickel, and cobalt in the Caribbean nation; in 2013, approximately 75 per cent of the company's revenues came from Cuba. Chief executive officer David Pathe called President Obama's moves "a good start," though he indicated that they would not have a substantial impact on the company in the short-term.

Analyst Jackie Przybylowski concurs with Mr. Pathe's assessment, noting that "fully lifting the trade embargo would represent much more significant benefits."

She thinks that the policy changes are of a "modest benefit" to the company, but does not think legislation to remove the trade embargo is imminent. In the event that this did occur, she sees upside to her current target price for Sherritt.

Ms. Przybylowski downgraded the stock to "hold" from "buy" and maintained a price target of $3 (Canadian).

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Morgan Stanley does not share John Chen's optimism that BlackBerry Ltd. will reach its software revenue target in fiscal year 2016.

Analyst James Faucette believes that the company's overall growth depends upon increasing software revenue more than services revenue declines. He sees this as a daunting task because, according to Morgan Stanley's estimates, the number of devices managed by enterprise mobility management or mobile device management systems in developed markets has flatlined around 28 to 32-million since 2011.

"In order to hit the stated targets, the size of a market needs to double in the next twelve months, with BlackBerry taking all the incremental growth," he said. "Or alternatively, BlackBerry needs to put out of business all the competitors that have consistently taken share from BlackBerry during the last four years out of business."

The analyst - one of the more persistent bears on the stock - calls the former tech giant's new device – the Classic – "solid." But he thinks it has a low ceiling in light of its high price point and the limited number of existing enterprise subscribers and will fail to move the needle on operating income.

Mr. Faucette maintained his "underperform" rating and price target of $7 (U.S.) on the stock.

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Canadian Western Bank's stock has been sufficiently punished over its exposure to the global energy rout, Credit Suisse analyst Kevin Choquette said.

Even after rallying this week, the regional bank's stock is trading about 22 per cent lower than its August peak.

"We believe the share price decline now adequately reflects the potential earnings risks and is within our entry point range," Mr. Choquette said.

He upgraded the stock to "outperform" from "neutral" and maintained a $37 (Canadian) target price.

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Black Diamond Group Ltd. has "a muted growth profile" in a low-oil environment, according to RBC Dominion Securities.

"We see minimal growth opportunities as oil sands activity beyond current projects slows in line with the decline in oil prices," said analyst Dan MacDonald. "We estimate that approximately 6 per cent of BDI's business is exposed more or less directly to drilling activity levels in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin."

This business, according to Mr. MacDonald, will face margin and pricing pressures in 2015.

He reduced his estimate for diluted earnings per share for the year ahead to $0.85 from $1.31.

While the expansion of LNG in Canada offers an avenue for growth, it is difficult to discern when the company would be able to seize such an opportunity.

The analyst downgraded the stock to "sector perform" from "outperform" and lowered his price target to $17 (Canadian) from $24.

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A reduced outlook for North American drilling activity has resulted in a downgrade for Savanna Energy Services Corp.

RBC Dominion Securities analyst Dan MacDonald noted that Savanna has 14 rigs currently in action in the Permian basin, a west Texas oil play, representing roughly 50 per cent of its U.S. fleet and 13 per cent of its total fleet.

"We see these rigs as highly at risk to be idled under our new drilling activity forecasts," he says. "While SVY has a good quality drilling rig fleet, its concentration of contracted tier 1 rigs is below several peers, leading to our expectation that its operating results are unlikely to outperform the group."

Mr. MacDonald adds that Savanna's dividend appears to be stable. "SVY continues to have an attractive dividend yield, which now stands at about 11.5 per cent. With a payout ratio of 35 per cent on our lowered 2015 expectations, we see the dividend as sustainable absent a more dramatic downturn in industry activity than forecast.

He downgraded Savanna to "sector perform" from "outperform" and cutting his target price to $6 (Canadian) from $8. The analyst consensus price target is $5.98.

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In other analyst actions:

Macquarie downgraded Penn West Petroleum to "underperform" from "neutral" with a price target of $2 (Canadian).

RBC Dominion Securities upgraded Superior Energy Services to "outperform" from "sector perform" with a price target of $25 (U.S.).

Raymond James upgraded Tahoe Resources to "outperform" from "market perform" with a price target of $17.25 (Canadian).

Dundee Securities upgraded IBI Group to "buy" from "neutral" and raised its price target to $4 (Canadian) from $3.50.

Dundee Securities upgraded Stantec to "buy" from "neutral" and raised its price target to $38 from $34.

Dundee Securities downgraded WesternOne to "neutral" from "buy" and cut its price target to $4 (Canadian) from $6.

Cormark Securities upgraded Fortuna Silver Mines to "buy" from "market perform" with a price target of $6.25 (Canadian).

Goldman Sachs upgraded FedEx to "conviction buy" from "neutral" and raised its price target to $211 (U.S.) from $173.

RBC Dominion Securities upgraded Baker Hughes to "outperform" from "sector perform" with a price target of $72 (U.S.).

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