Deutsche Bank Cuts Barrick Gold (ABX), Hecla (HL), Pan American (PAAS), Nucor (NUE), Reliance Steel (RS) to Hold; Coeur Mining (CDE) Cut to Sell

Deutsche Bank downgraded Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX), Hecla Mining (NYSE: HL), Pan American Silver (NASDAQ: PAAS), Nucor (NYSE: NUE), and Reliance Steel (NYSE: RS) from Buy to Hold. Coeur Mining (NYSE: CDE) was downgraded from Hold to Sell.

Analyst Jorge Beristain said, "The YTD commodity price rally appears to be driven by incrementally positive data from China. We do not expect this trend to continue and still believe supply cuts across most commodities are required. However, credit spreads have tightened sharply on higher commodity prices opening a window of opportunity. We expect further equity issuances and debt refinancing ahead as the sector continues to re-shape. We have downgraded four Precious equities and two Steels on valuation. Our preference continues to be non-integrated companies (Kaiser and Alcoa) as well as some gold exposure with Newmont remaining Buy rated."

The analyst added, "We now have six Buy-rated stocks including Alcoa, Kaiser Aluminum, Newmont, Steel Dynamics, Constellium and Vale. Following fairly minor commodity revisions, our Price Target’s are largely un-impacted. However, after a strong 1Q in Precious, we have downgraded Barrick, Hecla and Pan American to Hold and Coeur to Sell. In Steels we have now downgraded Nucor and Reliance from Buy to Hold. We continue to favor select companies with relatively strong Balance Sheets and businesses that can defend margins through low cost, contractual sales or patented technologies. We still recommend some gold exposure through Newmont. We recommend avoiding Sell-rated Franco-Nevada, Goldcorp, Coeur, Teck Resources and highly leveraged Sell-rated US Steel and AK Steel."

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Barrick Gold click here. For more ratings news on Barrick Gold click here.

Shares of Barrick Gold closed at $14.50 yesterday.

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