Agnico (AEM) (SCCO) (BAC) (UBS) (HWD) (FRC) (FHN) Ratings, Price Targets

Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited (AEM), Southern Copper (SCCO), Bank of America (BAC), UBS AG (UBS), Harry Winston Diamond (HWD), First Republic Bank (FRC) and First Horizon National Co. (FHN) had ratings and price targets on them adjusted by analysts.

Global Hunter Securities initiated coverage on Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited (AEM). They place a "Buy" rating and a price target of $46.00 on the company.

Morgan Stanley upgraded Southern Copper (SCCO) from an "Equal Weight" rating to an "Overweight" rating.

Robert W. Baird downgraded Bank of America (BAC) from an "Outperform" rating to an "Neutral" rating. They have a price target of $10.00 on the company.

ISI Group downgraded UBS AG (UBS) from a "Buy" rating to a "Hold" rating.

BMO Capital Markets downgraded Harry Winston Diamond (HWD) from an "Outperform" rating to an "Market Perform" rating.

BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on First Republic Bank (FRC). They placed an "Outperform" rating on the company.

Sterne Agee upgraded First Horizon National Co. (FHN) from an "Underperform" rating to a "Neutral" rating.

Agnico (AEM) (BTI) (DELL) (JWN) (HCN) (LEAP) Ratings, Price Targets

Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited (AEM), British American Tobacco (BTI), Dell Inc. (DELL), Nordstrom, Inc. (JWN), Health Care REIT (HCN) and Leap Wireless (LEAP) had ratings and price targets on them adjusted by analysts.

TheStreet downgraded Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited (AEM) to a "Sell" rating.

Societe Generale downgraded British American Tobacco (BTI) from a "Buy" rating to a "Hold" rating.

Robert W. Baird downgraded Dell Inc. (DELL) from an "Outperform" rating to a "Neutral" rating. They have a price target of $20.00 on the company.

Credit Agricole downgraded Nordstrom, Inc. (JWN) from a "Buy" rating to an "Underperform" rating.

Sandler O'Neill downgraded Health Care REIT (HCN) from a "Buy" rating to a "Hold" rating.

Collins Stewart downgraded Leap Wireless (LEAP) from a "Buy" rating to a "Neutral" rating. They have a price target of $12.00 on the company.

Agnico-Eagle (AEM) (AGP) (BIIB) (EMN) (FII) (FLS) Price Targets Changed

Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited (NYSE: AEM), AMERIGROUP Co. (NYSE: AGP), Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB), Eastman Chemical Co. (NYSE: EMN), Fed Investors (NYSE: FII) and Flowserve Corp. (NYSE: FLS) had price targets on them adjusted by analysts.

Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited (AEM) had its price target lowered by RBC Capital from $71.00 to $66.00. They have a “Sector Perform” rating on the company.

AMERIGROUP Co. (AGP) had its price target raised by Barclays Capital from $49.00 to $57.00. They have an “Equal Weight” rating on the company.

Biogen Idec Inc. (BIIB) had its price target raised by RBC Capital from $115.00 to $135.00. They have an “Outperform” rating on the company.

Eastman Chemical Co. (EMN) had its price target raised by JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) to $43.00.

Fed Investors (FII) had its price target lowered by JPMorgan Chase & Co. to $17.50.

Flowserve Corp. (FLS) had its price target raised by Stifel Nicolaus from $149.00 to $151.00. They have a “Buy” rating on the company.

Will Agnico-Eagle (AEM) Meet Production Guidance?

Even though Agnico-Eagle (NYSE:AEM) has broken their nine-month production record with 757,668 ounces during that period, a weaker third quarter has some analysts thinking they will have to have a strong fourth quarter to meet company production projections.

Scotia Capital analyst Tanya Jakusconek noted "Given Q3 operating performance, AEM will have to have very strong production in Q4 (322 k ozs) in order to meet its 2011 production guidance of 1.08 M oz."

"In our view this will require strong performance from both LaRonde and Meadowbank," added Jakusconek.

Most of the improved gold production during the period was from Lapa, Meadowbank, Pinos Altos and Kittila.

Payable gold production for the third quarter came to 265,978 ounces.

Barrick (ABX), (AEM) (GG) (GFI) (ABGL) See Gold Cost Challenges

CEOs of Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX), Agnico Eagle (NYSE:AEM), Goldcorp (NYSE:GG), Gold Fields (NYSE:GFI) and African Barrick Gold (ABGL) all recently said they see the rising costs of mining gold as a future challenge to the industry and their individual companies.

Even as the gold miners report stronger cash flows and good profits, costs are increasingly becoming an area of concern and some worry about the impact costs will have on capital expenditure

While the high price of silver, copper and other by-products of gold extraction have kept operating costs in check, miners are worried that capital spending on new projects will become unmanageable as labor, steel and energy costs keep pushing higher.

On top of that, gold miners have also suffered as the Canadian dollar, Australian dollar, Chilean peso and Mexican peso have strengthened against the U.S. dollar. Sales of most miners are typically denominated in U.S. dollars, while costs are often based in local "commodity" currencies.

A catch-22 for the industry is its success as well, as outlying gold deposits which couldn't be mined in the past because of prohibitive costs are now able to be mined successfully, but it does cost more to do it, but gold demand forces companies to pursue the resource.

Another problem is the delayed reaction from greedy governments, which are now attempting to extract a larger portion of the earning of the companies because of out of control spending and making promises they can't keep.

The problem there is they're making decisions based on past performance and costs rather than what the companies are now, and will be facing in future years. That could also devastate and slow the industry down if the greedy politicians attempt to take even more from the miners.

Alamos Gold (TSE:AGI), Agnico Eagle (TSE:AEM) Fall with Gold Price Drop

Gold miners are probably all glad the brutal gold correction of last week seems to have taken a breather, as gold prices, along with the price of gold mining shared plunged, and gold miners like Alamos Gold (TSE:AGI) and Agnico Eagle Mines NYSE:AEM)(TSE:AEM) participated strongly in that drop in share price, along with most of their colleagues.

Alamos Gold ended their week on the upswing, gaining 0.41 percent, or 6 cents a share in Toronto. Volume also fell, seeming to imply traders may have taken their profits during the last week, and are for the most part out of the gold market temporarily. That would be good news overall for gold prices and gold miners, which should start to move upward again now that speculators, for now, are largely gone.

Alamos finished the week at $14.87 a share.

Agnico Eagle (TSE:AEM) had a tougher week, dropping 0.35 percent in New York, or $0.20 a share. As usual, volume as measured by percentage and numbers was higher in New York for Agnico, finishing Friday with 3,956,943, up from the 3-month average of 2,994,710. Share price closed the week in New York at 56.56.

In Toronto, Agnico was also down, dropping 1.22 percent, or $0.74 a share. Volume by percentage was much lower than the 3-month average, ending the day at 576,366, down from the 3-month average volume of 821,027. Shares finished the week at $60.09.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM), Gold Fields (NYSE:GFI) Jump on China, Sovereign Debt Fears

Concerns over the sovereign debt crisis and China austerity measures have gold mining companies like Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) and Gold Fields (NYSE:GFI) jumping today, as they have been up from 4 to 5 percent today, while gold prices today are closing in on all-time records.

After the euphoria over the almost $1 trillion being provided to bail out European countries passed, investors have taken in the potential consequences and possible irrelevance of the $1 trillion, which many are saying will just postpone the inevitable, and after spending that much will still have to deal with the underlying causes and consequences of the economies of these countries and the response of their people to having their outrageous wages and perks being taken away.

That has investors nervous, and rightly so, and gold should be the beneficiary of that in the years ahead.

As for China, they're having to face their own potential bubble bursting, and they're putting measures into place which could cut back on demand for raw materials, which will also be a good thing for gold prices, and ultimately gold mining companies.

Agnico-Eagle (TSE:AEM): Gold Mining Growth

Sean Boyd, Agnico-Eagle (TSE:AEM) (NYSE:AEM) vice chairman and CEO, said in a recent interview that the challenge for gold miners going forward is going to be growth, and it seems that it will come primarily from mergers and acquisitions, rather than organically.

Other trends seen by Boyd is the continuation of the current trend of searching for gold deposits which include a significant amount of other metals.

Even so, management will have to be careful not to give the impression of abandoning gold, so will have to keep that as their mainstay while generating revenue from other resources.

Boyd also believes that gold mining stocks will catch up and surpass gold itself in performance, as investors recognize they're increasingly able to increase earnings per share via cash flow.

Agnico-Eagle (NYSE:AEM) Positioned for Strong Growt

Agnico-Eagle (NYSE:AEM) CEO Sean Boyd said recently the company has opened up five new mines and are positioned for strong growth going forward.

Because of the extra costs in opening the mines, earnings will be about level with what the street estimates are, although that should change soon once gold production ramps up.

For the entire year, Boyd projects production will reach close to 1 million ounces, almost twice what they produced in 2009.

Boyd added they are taking measures to cut costs, and together with increased production should provide value to their shareholders. Costs will also naturally drop now that the mines are online, which will grow earnings.

The overall goal is to eventually elimate the need to borrow to grow, and to grow from cash flow, again, decreasing the cost of doing business for Agnico-Eagle.

UBS (NYSE:UBS) Downgrades Royal Gold (Nasdaq:RGLD)

Royal Gold Gets Downgraded

UBS (NYSE:UBS) announced it has made several estimates below consensus, with Royal Gold (Nasdaq:RGLD) bearing the brunt of it, being downgraded from "Buy" to "Neutral" based on the share price rising quickly.

Since mid-February when the share price of Royal Gold dropped below $13, it has rebounded strongly to close at over $17 a share today; a move considered to strong in the eyes of UBS.

Other companies UBS has estimated as below consensus are Gammon (NYSE:GRS), IAMGOLD (NYSE:IAG), Agnico-Eagle (NYSE:AEM), Coeur d'Alene Mines (NYSE:CDE) and Yamana (NYSE:AUY).

Major competitors for investor dollars for Royal Gold are Gammon and Harmony Gold Mining Co. (NYSE:HMY).