ANDREW VAUGHAN
After a quick glance through our analyst research this morning, one fact jumps out: For all the purported loss of investor confidence, it appears that there is no shortage of "buy" ratings.
Indeed, many analysts make the case that stocks are now cheap, while their fundamentals haven't changed materially.
Of course, one must take analyst ratings with a pinch of salt, but if you want to know what they're thinking, here's a smattering, which includes a fair share of cyclical stocks. Does it paint the picture of a corporate world and economy on the brink of collapse?
From TD Newcrest Equity Research (which also upgraded railways to "overweight" from "market weight" and pointed to 30-40 per cent upside for the sector) :
Brookfield Office Properties Canada : "Buy"; target price $26.00; solid Q2/11 operations; ready to acquire Canadian Office Fund Interest
Enercare Inc. : Upgrading to "buy" from "hold"; target: $8.50 (prior: $7.00); Q2/11 slightly better than forecast; business stabilizing
First Quantum Minerals Ltd. : "Action list buy"; target: $31.00
Flint Energy Services Ltd : Upgrading to "buy" from "hold"; target: $17.50 (prior: $16.50) ; strong rebound and outlook leads to upgrade
Norfolk Southern Corp. : Upgrading to "buy" from "hold"; target: $92.00 (U.S.)
Thompson Creek Metals Co. Inc. : Upgrading to "buy" from "hold"; target: $11.50 (Canadian) (prior: $12.50); significant discount to NAV creates buying opportunity
Union Pacific Corp. : Upgrading to "buy" from "hold"; target: $124.00 (U.S.)
From Desjardins Capital Markets (which also issued a separate report on "bargain buys" in the mining, metals and fertilizers sectors) :
Aeterna Zentaris Inc. : Market correction provides attractive opportunity; upgrading to "buy" from "hold" and maintaining $2.60 (U.S.) target.
Thompson Creek Metals Co. Inc : Cost savings continue; maintaining "top pick" recommendation and $21 (Canadian) target.
Uranium One Inc.: Sales volumes catching up; maintaining "buy" recommendation and $8.20 target.
From Raymond James Ltd. (which also put out an entire report on the energy sector titled How The Cooler Heads Prevail in the Market Correction; note that its analysts did cut target prices on a series of stocks) :
BioExx Specialty Proteins Ltd. : Maintain "outperform"; target price goes from $2.50 to $1.50.
Detour Gold Corp. : Maintain "outperform"; target price goes from $42.00 to $45.00.
Fortress Paper : Maintain "strong buy"; target price goes from $60.00 to $50.00.
GasFrac Energy Services Ltd. : Maintain "outperform"; target price goes from $13.50 to $12.50.
ShaMaran Petroleum Corp. : Maintain "outperform"; target price goes from $1.00 to $0.70.
SNC-Lavalin : Maintain "outperform"; target price goes from $63.00 to $60.00.
Bird Construction Inc. : Maintain "outperform" and $15.00 price target.
Silver Wheaton : Maintain "outperform" and $52.00 (U.S.) price target.
Trican Well Service : Maintain "strong buy" and $31.00 (Canadian) price target.
Sonali Verma