Jefferies cuts Yara to 'hold' as weaker farm cycle dims upside
BUZZ-Jefferies cuts Yara to 'hold' as weaker farm cycle dims upside ** Jefferies downgrades Norwegian fertiliser producer Yara YAR.OL to "hold" from "buy", saying weaker farmer economics, lower fertiliser prices and higher gas assumptions limit near-term upside
** The broker cuts its price target to NOK 470 from NOK 610, implying about 5% upside to the stock's last close of NOK 447.70
** "Our downgrade is driven by a weaker agricultural backdrop, lower fertiliser prices, revised down farmer incomes, weaker sentiment and higher gas assumptions," the broker says
** Jefferies says nitrogen prices are softening as weak demand outweighs supply tightness, even with around 30% of global urea supply absent from export markets
** It also cuts its 2027 and 2028 EBITDA forecasts by around 15%-16%, while lifting 2026 estimates by 3%, and says its EBITDA forecasts are 7% below consensus on average across 2026-2028
** Shares of the company are down 2.3% in early trading, lowest in more than five months
** Out of 22 analysts that cover Yara, three rate the stock "strong buy" or "buy," 16 "hold" and three rate the stock "strong sell" or "sell" - LSEG data
(Reporting by Jesus Calero)