A zoomed illustration image of a man looking at a computer monitor showing the logo of Amazon is seen in this file photo.© Leonhard Foeger / Reuters
Inside the Market's roundup of some of today's key analyst actions. This file will be updated during the trading day.
After having recently surprised analysts with an unexpected boost to reserves, NuVista Energy Ltd. announced a deal to acquire additional land in the Wapiti Montney area of Alberta.
"We already liked the NuVista strategy and footprint, but they seem to be sending a more aggressive subtext if we read between the lines," Raymond James analyst Kurt Molnar said. "Nuvista was already arguably land rich, but 'artificially' infrastructure/production/cash flow constrained."
The analyst said the deal could indicate that either NuVista is going to get more aggressive about establishing midstream solutions, or the company is trying to increase its value in anticipation of interest from a potential purchaser.
Mr. Molnar raised his price target on NuVista's stock to $15.25 (Canadian) from $13.75, while maintaining an "outperform" rating. The analyst consensus price target over the next year is $14.21, according to Thomson Reuters data.
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In closing the acquisition of Lumina Copper Corp., First Quantum Minerals Ltd. has further clarified its growth prospects, Raymond James analyst Alex Terentiew said.
"First Quantum continues its transformation into a global copper powerhouse and the largest pure-play copper company with five (!) sizeable projects in the wings," Mr. Terentiew said. "Given that engineering and design is being done in-house, the risk to achieving this growth is lower than that for its peers, many of which need to make acquisitions and rely on third parties for expertise. As such, we continue to recommend investors, especially those with a longer-term investment horizon, accumulate shares of First Quantum."
The analyst raised his target price on First Quantum stock to $28 (Canadian) from $26, while maintaining an "outperform" rating. The analyst consensus price target over the next year is $25.21.
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There's more than meets the eye when it comes to Amazon.com Inc.' s planned acquisition of Twitch Interactive, says Credit Suisse analyst Stephen Ju.
Amazon has announced its intent to acquire live videogame content streaming property Twitch for about $970-million in cash, in a transaction that is expected to close in the second half of this year.
Mr. Ju explains that while the acquisition appears to lie outside the boundaries of what investors may be accustomed to seeing from Amazon, he believes the strategic rationale "fits with Amazon's aspirations to make Kindle a more attractive publishing platform (more traffic/audience) and should also serve as a media cost hedge over the longer term."
Mr. Ju maintains his "outperform" rating and $431 (U.S.) price target. The analyst consensus price target $389.42, according to Thomson Reuters.
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Enerflex Ltd. has strung together several quarters of strong bookings, lending support to the company's earnings growth, Raymond James analyst Andrew Bradford said.
"The primary sources of the increased demand were customers in the Eagle Ford and Marcellus plays," Mr. Bradford said. "We doubt Enerflex will sustain this absolute level of bookings, but we do note that the trend has been positive for the last seven quarters."
Mr. Bradford raised his target price on Enerflex to $24.50 (Canadian) from $22, while maintaining an "outperform" rating. The analyst consensus price target over the next year is $24.63.
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Sprint Corp.'s plan to build a better network should boost shares in wireless broadband equipment maker DragonWave Inc., according to CIBC World Markets analyst Todd Coupland.
"As Sprint upgrades its network we think [DragonWave] is in a good position to benefit late in its fiscal year ended February 2015," he said.
He maintains his "sector outperformer" rating and $3 (Canadian) target price, compared to an analyst consensus price target of $2.24.
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In other analyst actions:
Tim Hortons was downgraded to the equivalent of hold from buy at both Scotiabank and Desjardins Securities. The downgrades came before the official announcement of the merger with Burger King Worldwide this morning.
FirstEnergy Capital upgraded Western Energy Services to "outperform" from "market perform" with a price target of $12.50 (Canadian) a share.
FirstEnergy Capital downgraded Ensign Energy Services to "underperform" from "market perform" with a price target of $17.50 (Canadian).
FirstEnergy Capital downgraded Secure Energy Services to "outperform" from "top pick" with a price target of $29.50 (Canadian).
National Bank Financial upgraded Liquor Stores N.A. to "sector perform" from "underperform" with a price target of $12 (Canadian).
Barclays raised its price target on Whitecap Resources to $20 (Canadian) from $18 and maintained an "overweight" rating.
Darcy Keith