The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday, July 4, edition that BMO analyst Andrew Kaip upgraded Barrick Gold to "outperform" from "market perform" with a $20 (U.S.) target, rising from $14.50 (U.S.). The Globe's David Leeder writes in the Eye On Equities column that analysts on average target the shares at $15.30 (U.S.). Mr. Kaip says in a note: "In our view, the formation of the Nevada Joint Venture (JV) is a positive for Barrick as the synergies derived from consolidating the Nevada operations with Newmont Goldcorp do, in our view, unlock value. While integration risks in realizing the full potential of the JV do exist, we are confident the near-term benefits outweigh the risks." Mr. Kaip downgraded Newmont Goldcorp to "market perform" from "outperform" with a share target of $45 (U.S.), rising from $42 (U.S.). Analysts on average target the shares at $42.18 (U.S.). The Globe reported on March 15 that Desjardins analyst Josh Wolfson had boosted his rating for Barrick to "buy" from "hold." He maintained his $20 (Canadian) share target. He called Barrick's proposed JV with Newmont Mining a "low-risk, high-reward agreement with positive long-term implications." The shares were then worth $17.44 (Canadian).