Anglo American Shares: JPMorgan Upgrades Stock, Lifts Target On Commodity Supply Constraints

JPMorgan upgraded Anglo American (LON:AAL) to Neutral from Underweight and raised its price target to 3,850 pence from 3,350 pence in a note Wednesday, which was part of a wider review of European metals, mining and steel stocks ahead of third-quarter results.

Analyst Dominic O’Kane told investors that he sees “powerful earnings drivers” for the sector. These are said to include strong global growth, accelerating purchasing managers’ indexes, the threat of tariffs on U.S. copper imports, and supply constraints across commodities, specifically copper, aluminum, coal and steel.

The upgrade follows a run of target changes and coverage of the stock from other brokers. On Tuesday, Barclays analyst Ian Rossouw raised his price target to 4,780 pence from 4,500 pence while keeping an Overweight rating.

Deutsche Bank analyst Liam Fitzpatrick lifted his target to 4,700 pence from 4,500 pence on Oct. 7, maintaining a Buy rating, while Scotiabank analyst Orest Wowkodaw began coverage last month with a Sector Outperform rating and a 5,200 pence target.

Anglo American shares closed 1% lower on Wednesday. The stock is up 31.7% so far this year and 39.8% over the past 12 months.

JPMorgan’s new target remains well below those of its more bullish peers, reflecting the more cautious view.