B. Riley FBR upgraded Freeport-McMoRan Inc. to "buy" from "neutral" following news of Rio Tinto's US$3.5 billion deal to sell its interest in the Grasberg copper-gold mine to Indonesia, according to a May 23 note.
Rio Tinto recently confirmed ongoing talks and the price, but noted that no deal has been agreed. The company is entitled to 40% of Grasberg's copper production above specific levels until 2021 and 40% of all production after 2023.
According to B. Riley analyst Lucas Pipes, the price tag for Rio Tinto's Grasberg interest sets an attractive valuation marker for Freeport and implies a valuation of US$10 billion to US$11 billion for PT Freeport Indonesia.
B. Riley also raised the price target for Freeport's stock to US$20 from US$17 per share.
Evraz PLC was downgraded May 21 by Credit Suisse to "underperform" from "outperform" on valuation grounds. While Evraz has been its top Russian steel pick since the start of 2018, Credit Suisse believes that the company's current share price gives investors a very thin safety margin.
Meanwhile, Moody's upgraded subsidiary Evraz Group SA's corporate family rating to Ba2 from Ba3, its probability of default rating to Ba2-PD from Ba3-PD and the ratings assigned to its senior unsecured notes to Ba3 from B1, with a stable outlook.
The rating agency said May 24 that the upgrade reflects expectations the Evraz unit will be able to sustain reduced leverage, continue to balance debt reduction with dividend payouts, and maintain healthy liquidity and positive post-dividend free cash flow.
Cameco Corp. saw a downgrade in the week to May 25 after RBC Capital on May 22 lowered the company's rating to "sector perform" from "outperform."
Analyst Andrew Wong reiterated forecasts that Cameco is well positioned to benefit from an expected recovery of uranium fundamentals over the long term, though stronger uranium prices are already factored into Cameco's shares given its recent rally.
Canaccord Genuity on May 23 initiated coverage on Osisko Metals Inc., with analyst Kevin MacKenzie tagging the stock with a "speculative buy" rating.
MacKenzie said Osisko Metals presents investors with a "unique value proposition," being an emerging zinc producer over the medium term and supported by its projects' established infrastructure, historical resource base and safe jurisdictions, among other factors. The analyst also set a C$1 price target for Osisko Metals' shares.
Canaccord Genuity analyst Eric Zaunscherb, meanwhile, raised his price target for Cobalt 27 Capital Corp.'s stock to C$18 from C$16.50 per share on May 24 while maintaining a "speculative buy" rating.
The analyst sees Cobalt 27's recent US$113 million cobalt-nickel stream deal with Highlands Pacific Ltd. as a sign of its ability to execute its business plan.
Finally, Moody's lifted Coeur Mining Inc.'s outlook to positive from stable and affirmed the company's B1 corporate family rating and B1-PD probability of default rating, as well as the B1 senior unsecured notes rating.
In a May 25 note, Moody's said the improved outlook reflects Coeur's acquisition of the Silvertip silver-zinc-lead mine in British Columbia and anticipated growth in the company's production, scale and earnings, as well as its improved geopolitical risk profile after the sale of the San Bartolome silver mine in Bolivia.
