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Transat has returned to profitability for the first time in three years, with a net income of $58 million on revenues of $3.6 billionReuters

Inside the Market's roundup of some of today's key analyst actions. This file will be updated during the trading day. For breaking analyst actions prior to market open every day, read our Before the Bell morning report.

Analysts are taking the knife to their price targets on Transat A.T. Inc. after the airline and tour operator reported disappointing quarterly results on Thursday - but most still see substantial upside for the stock over the next 12 months.

Transat's net loss in its fiscal first quarter ended Jan. 31 widened to $25.6-million (Canadian) from $15.1-million a year earlier as the weak Canadian dollar resulted in a significant increase in operating expenses. The company warned it expects "inferior" results in the current quarter.

"Despite Transat's move to increase flexibility within its cost structure, it does not have the same levers to offset unforeseen headwinds similar to the scheduled carriers," commented CIBC World Markets analyst Kevin Chiang. "Transat is unlikely to be nimble enough to adjust in-season to offset a negative shock, which reduces earnings visibility."

Mr. Chiang cut his price target to $12.25 from $14.50. But that still represents significant upside from Thursday's closing price of $9.10, and he reiterated a "sector perform" rating. The stock was down 3.5 per cent at $8.78 in early TSX trading today.

Desjardins Securities analyst Benoit Poirier remains even more upbeat, cutting his target to only $15 from $18 as he reiterated a "buy" rating. He commented that fundamentals remain positive. "Despite the tough impact of the falling loonie, we maintain a positive stance as we see more upside to cost-cutting and margin-improvement initiatives," Mr. Poirier said.

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Desjardins Securities analyst Adam Melnyk downgraded Kirkland Lake Gold Inc. to "sell" from "hold," citing liquidity concerns and operational uncertainty facing the Ontario miner. He maintained a $3.50 (Canadian) price target.

"With a current working capital balance of $30-million (Canadian), liquidity risk is high as Macassa is currently operating at breakeven levels, which could be further strained by production shortfalls, a stronger Canadian dollar or a weaker gold price," Mr. Melnyk said in a research note.

Meanwhile, a new mine plan for Macassa, which will likely call for a smaller-scale, higher-grade operation, has yet to be released "and thus clouds the mine's near- to medium-term operational outlook," he said. Given Macassa's high costs, which are domiciled in Canadian dollars, there is potential downside risk should the price of gold weaken or the Canadian dollar strengthens, he added.

Separately, Dundee Securities raised its price target to $5 (Canadian) from $4 and maintained a "neutral" rating.

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Credit Suisse has cut its earnings estimates on all U.S. steel companies it covers, while downgrading its ratings on two: United States Steel Corp. and Nucor Corp. The action was prompted by renewed signs of weakness in the macro economic outlook.

"Although the US domestic demand situation is unquestionably improving, we simply do not feel that this is sufficient to offset slower emerging markets growth and the influence of imports that this implies," Credit Suisse analysts led by Nathan Littlewood said in a research note.

U.S. Steel was downgraded to "underperform" from "neutral" while Nucor's rating was cut to "neutral" from "outperform." The analysts maintained their price target on U.S. Steel at $19 (U.S.), but reduced their target on Nucor to $50 from $55.

Credit Suisse linked the new underperform rating on U.S. Steel to the company's exposure to the rapidly weakening iron ore market. "Unlike 2012/13 when iron ore prices rebounded to $160/t post the destock, we see the iron ore price settling at a structurally lower level in the second half of 2014," they commented.

The analysts believe, however, that a buying opportunity in the steel sector may be closer than many think. Conviction among resource investors remains "incredibly low," and "as far as sentiment goes, we are arguably closer to the bottom than we are to the top.

"So some investors might rightly argue that it's worth tolerating a small amount of downside from here just to be sure that they don't risk missing the turn of the cycle."

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In other analyst actions:

AltaCorp Capital Research initiated coverage on Bombardier with an "outperform" rating and a $5.50 (Canadian) price target.

Raymond James upgraded SilverCrest Mines to "outperform" from "market perform" and hiked its price target to $3.25 (Canadian) from $2.30.

Canaccord Genuity downgraded Premium Brands Holdings to "hold" from "buy" and cut its price target to $21 (Canadian) from $22.

Canaccord upgraded Pure Technologies to "buy" from "hold" and hiked its price target to $8 (Canadian) from $7.25.

Desjardins hiked its price target on Cascades to $8.50 (Canadian) from $7.50 and kept a "buy" rating.

CIBC World Markets cut its price target on Empire Co. to $80 (Canadian) from $83 and maintained a "sector performer" rating.

RBC Dominion Securities hiked its price target on Cervus Equipment to $24 (Canadian) from $21 and reiterated a "sector perform" rating.

M Partners reiterated its "buy" rating and $3.10 (Canadian) price target on Input Capital, saying a buying opportunity has emerged after its 17 per cent slide since the start of March.

RBC hiked its price target on Oryx Petroleum to $22 (Canadian) from $18 and reiterated an "outperform" rating.

Oppenheimer upgraded Lowe's to "outperform" from "perform" and raised its price target to $57 (U.S.) from $50.

Nomura Securities raised its price target on Facebook to $84 (U.S.) from $78 and reiterated a "buy" rating.

Goldman Sachs upgraded NuStar Energy to "buy" from "neutral" and raised its price target to $62 (U.S.) from $49.

Sterne Agee initiated coverage on Alcoa with a "buy" rating and $15 (U.S.) price target.

For more analyst actions, breaking investing news and analysis, follow Darcy Keith on Twitter at @eyeonequities

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