UPDATE: Raymond James Downgrades Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers to Market Perform, Lowers PT Following June GAP Results

In a report published Wednesday, Raymond James analyst Ben Cherniavsky downgraded the rating on

from Outperform to Market Perform, and lowered the price target from $22.00 to $20.00. In the report, Raymond James noted, “In the past, we have been reluctant to make too much of any given month of auction data. June's results, however, form a rather deleterious trend for Ritchie Bros. Cumulatively, GAP declined 10% in 2Q13, which followed a 2% y/y drop in 1Q13 and a 4% drop in 4Q12. At this rate, it looks unlikely that the company will finish 2013 within its target range of $4.0-$4.4 bln, and we have adjusted our forecasts accordingly. This flies in the face of our prevailing thesis on the stock. Indeed, we have been expecting Ritchie's GAP growth to reaccelerate this year due to: (i) a dramatic ramp-up in OEM capacity during 2011/2012 and the inflated dealer inventories that followed; (ii) a global realignment of activity out of places like Europe and China (where construction has slowed) and into regions like the US (where a recovery is reportedly underway); and (iii) early traction from the EquipmentOne initiative. The fact that Ritchie's TTM GAP is down 14%, despite these variables (and stable used equipment prices) both confounds and disappoints us.” Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers closed on Tuesday at $19.00.