The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday, Feb. 15, edition that Scotia Capital analyst Ovais Habib has lowered his recommendation for SSR Mining to "sector perform" from "outperform." The Globe's David Leeder writes that Mr. Habib slashed his share target by $10 to $12. Analysts on average target the shares at $19. Mr. Habib issued his downgrade in response to a landslide at SSR Mining's Copler mine in Turkey that caused operations to be suspended. Mr. Habib says in a note: "As a result, we have adjusted our model to account for 12 months of downtime at Copler, although it remains unclear at this time what remedies would need to be taken to restart operations. Following these developments at Copler and the uncertainty surrounding its outlook, we are downgrading SSR Mining shares. ... We remain cautious on SSR Mining shares in the near term as we seek greater clarity on the social and operational impact of the Copler accident." The Globe reported on April 26 that Canaccord Genuity analysts rated SSR Mining "buy." The analysts said that SSR Mining was their top defensive gold pick. The shares could then be had for $20.10. The Globe reported on Nov. 3 that RBC rated SSR Mining "outperform." It was then worth $16.77.