SNC-Lavalin offices in downtown Montreal.Mario Beauregard
Inside the Market's roundup of some of today's key analyst actions. This file will be updated during the trading day.
Investors once again soured on SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. after the engineering and consulting (E&C) company missed earnings expectations and reduced profit forecasts.
"There is probably investor fatigue setting in on SNC with … yet another quarter that fails to show the earnings power in the E&C business," BMO Nesbitt Burns analyst Bert Powell said.
"The quarterly results, guidance, and charges clearly shook investors, but when we look at all the factors, we think the current stock price represents a good entry point."
The primary concern for the company is its exposure to global mining and energy activity, which represents about 45 per cent of BMO's forecasted 2014 revenues, Mr. Powell said. In June, SNC-Lavalin bought oil and gas services company Kentz Corp. for $2.1-billion.
"We believe we have adequately contemplated the contraction in SNC's legacy businesses in this space, and anticipate Kentz backlog to support that business at flat for the next two years."
The latest selloff has weakened the company's stock sufficiently to warrant an upgrade to "outperform" from "market perform," Mr. Powell said. He lowered his price target to $54 (Canadian) from $57.
Canaccord Genuity analyst Yuri Lynk also said he sees the stock as attractively valued, reiterating a "buy" recommendation despite lowering his target price to $61 from $67. And RBC Dominion Securities analyst Sara O'Brien said the stock pullback offers compelling upside for risk-tolerant investors, reiterating an "outperform" rating even while cutting her price target to $55 from $66.
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Strong quarterly earnings results have reinforced Air Canada's opportunities for profit growth, Canaccord Genuity analyst David Tyerman said.
"The company's new initiatives appear to be generating strong revenue growth and margin expansion," Mr. Tyerman said. "We expect further significant gains in coming quarters and years."
He cited three company initiatives as cause for confidence: the expansion of lower-cost carrier Air Canada Rouge, the addition of Boeing 787 Dreamliners, and the renewal of Air Canada's fleet.
He raised his target price on Air Canada's stock to $16 (Canadian) from $13 and reiterated a "buy" recommendation.
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Recent unit price gains have resulted in a downgrade for Calloway REIT.
RBC Dominion Securities analyst Michael Smith explains that Calloway continues to post positive results from its "highly stable" portfolio, and that management has embarked on multiple initiatives to layer on growth.
"We think these initiatives are slowly starting to bear fruit but following CWT's recent price gains, we see more upside and growth from other retail names that have in-house development capabilities," he says.
Mr. Smith downgraded Calloway to "sector perform" from "outperform" and raised his target by a dollar to $30 (Canadian). The analyst consensus price target is $29, according to Thomson Reuters.
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Raymond James downgraded Trilogy Energy to "outperform" from "strong buy" and cut its price target to $26 (Canadian) from $40. BMO Nesbitt Burns also lowered its rating, to "market perform" from "outperform," with a price target of $23. And National Bank downgraded its rating to "sector perform" from "outperform" with a price target of $21. (Read more in our Small Caps Stocks to Watch post).
Industrial Alliance Securities upgraded Computer Modelling Group to "strong buy" from "buy" with a $17.50 (Canadian) price target.
FirstEnergy Capital downgraded Paramount Resources to "market perform" from "outperform" with a price target of $55 (Canadian).
Raymond James downgraded Roxgold to "outperform" from "strong buy" and cut its price target to 80 cents (Canadian) from $1.20.
Canaccord hiked its price target on Air Canada to $16 (Canadian) from $13 and maintained a "buy" rating.
Raymond James downgraded Legumex Walker to "market perform" from "strong buy" and cut its price target to $5 (Canadian) from $8.75. Cormark Securities downgraded the stock to "market perform" from "buy" with a price target of $4.
Cormark Securities upgraded Osisko Gold Royalties to "buy" from "market perform" with a price target of $17.25 (Canadian).
TD Securities downgraded Surge Energy to "hold" from "buy" with a price target of $7.50 (Canadian).
AltaCorp Capital Research upgraded Cathedral Energy Services to "outperform" from "sector perform" and raised its price target to $4 (Canadian) from $3.50.
Tim Shufelt