ASX 200 shares are off to a good start to the year, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index (ASX: XJO) lifting around 3%.
Meanwhile, The Australian is reporting that top brokers have downgraded their ratings on Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN), Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN), and Goodman Group (ASX: GMG).
All of these stocks have done pretty well in recent months, so why the sudden change? Let's dive in and see.
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Brokers downgrade ASX 200 shares
Evolution Mining's share price has climbed more than 80% over the past year and is up 17% this year alone.
The ASX 200 share hit new highs on Wednesday after the gold miner posted its quarterly report for the three months ended December 2024.
Despite a reasonably strong quarter, Citi analysts have downgraded Evolution to a hold. But in an odd move, Citi raised its price target on the mining stock slightly to $5.80 apiece.
As The Australian reports, Citi analyst Kate McCutcheon likes its copper assets and says the company has met investor expectations in the past six months.
But Citi views Evolution as pricey and "would like to revisit our call into a pullback".
In addition, Macquarie Equities has also moved Evolution to a hold rating, setting a price target of $5.50. Meanwhile, Argonaut Securities downgraded the miner to hold with a price target of $6.00.
This comes as gold trades at US$2,750 per ounce, not far off its all-time high of US$2.785 per ounce.
Moving along, the second ASX 200 share to face a downgrade is ASX property giant Goodman Group.
Investment bank JP Morgan cut its rating on the property stock to a hold with a price target of $40. From Goodman's closing price of $38.36 on Wednesday, this is a 4.2% upside potential.
JP Morgan is at odds with its broker colleagues, however. According to CommSec, of the eight analysts covering the stock, only JP Morgan rates the ASX 200 share a sell. There are five buys and two holds, respectively.
Paladin Energy rated hold
Uranium producer Paladin Energy has also been downgraded to a hold this week, with broker UBS revising its rating down.
This follows a 32% rally in its share price since November, as reported by The Australian, along with a "conservative" outlook on uranium.
The broker lifted its FY25 production forecast by 6%, reflecting higher output assumptions.
However, it also cited uncertainty around the "near-term price direction" of uranium as a key reason for its revised outlook.
While we are generally positive the long-term uranium thematic, we are less certain about near-term price direction and catalysts to have prices run higher, albeit given the closed nature of the uranium market we concede it is harder than most commodities to call near-term and with limited short-term indicators.
UBS set a price target of $10 piece on the ASX 200 share, nearly 9% upside potential from its closing price on Wednesday.
Foolish takeout
These ASX 200 shares have been downgraded to 'hold' ratings from top brokers this week.
Whilst expert opinions are valuable, it's important to remember they are just that — opinions. Keeping a long-term investment view is critical.
