The Financial Post reports in its Wednesday, July 13, edition that this has been a good year for gold equities, with shares of most miners doubling or tripling off their lows in January. The Post's Peter Koven writes that Canaccord analysts Tony Lesiak, Rahul Paul and Peter Buresare hiked their price targets on 27 precious metals stocks on Tuesday, with the large-cap producers being raised by an average of 25 per cent each. They boosted their target on Barrick Gold's shares by 27 per cent to $33, and on Kinross Gold by 26 per cent to $9.75. The analysts expect gold and silver prices to move higher, but just as important, they think valuation multiples across the sector are poised to increase. They note that valuations appear "stretched" after this year's rally, but that the current environment of negative global interest rates is a "unique" one that justifies higher multiples. The analysts say in a note, "While we aren't changing how we value the equities we cover, we are moving to the upper end of the valuation range we have seen over the past 10 years given the potential for gold equities to benefit further from a declining cost of capital." In the short term, however, Canaccord actually expects a pullback.