Analyst Downgrades: Agnico Eagle Mines, Ocwen Financial

Analysts are weighing in today on commodities issue Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd (USA) (NYSE:AEM), mortgage lender Ocwen Financial Corp (NYSE:OCN), and drugmaker Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:TEVA). Here's a quick roundup of today's bearish brokerage notes on AEM, OCN, and TEVA.

• HSBC cut its rating on AEM to "neutral" from "overweight," but upped its price target to $34.10 from $32. The downgrade is slightly surprising, considering the shares have rallied a brow-raising 30.8% year-to-date to trade at $32.56, and have outperformed the broader S&P 500 Index (SPX) by almost 40 percentage points in the last month. More broadly speaking, most of the brokerage bunch is already in the bulls' corner when it comes to Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. Twelve out of 17 covering analysts have handed out "buy" or better opinions, versus five "holds" and not a single "sell." Plus, the stock's consensus 12-month price target of $42.13 sits at a 29.4% premium to AEM's current trading level. Ahead of the open, the equity is pointed 2.6% lower.


• OCN saw its price target trimmed by $2 to $12 at KBW, which also reiterated its "market perform" rating. Nevertheless, the shares are up nearly 29% in electronic trading, after reaching a $2.5 million settlement with California regulators -- avoiding the potential suspension of its state mortgage license. What's more, the company responded to investors' attempts to remove it as a servicer of residential mortgage-backed securities, describing unspecified allegations as "baseless" (subscription required). Last Friday, Ocwen Financial Corp settled at $6.35, and touched a nearly six-year low of $5.66, as well. Not surprisingly, options traders have been overwhelmingly bearish toward the stock. During the last 10 weeks at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), OCN has racked up a put/call volume ratio of 2.93 -- in the 92nd percentile of its annual range.


• Finally, despite advancing 39.5% year-over-year to trade at $59.88 -- and hitting a multi-year peak of $61.90 on Friday -- TEVA was started with a "sell" rating and $49 price target at Berenberg. This negativity echoes what's been seen in the options pits. TEVA's 50-day ISE/CBOE/PHLX put/call volume ratio of 1.01 registers at a 52-week high. However, given Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd's technical tenacity, a portion of these long puts may have been initiated by shareholders seeking a downside hedge. Ahead of the open, TEVA is 2.1% lower.