UPDATE: Bank of America Upgrades AK Steel to Neutral

Bank of America has published a research report on AK Steel

and has upgraded the company from Underperform to Neutral. In the report, Bank of America writes, "We upgrade AK Steel to Neutral from Underperform as market conditions for its predominantly sheet steel mix are set to improve into Q1. The at least temporary idling of the 3Mt/yr+ Sparrows Point facility can help support the sheet market near term. We also note that the negative catalyst of AK's removal from the S&P 500 has now passed. In fact, a lagging iron ore price and higher steel prices can eventually help AK margins. We expect stainless market conditions to improve due to a destocking completed in H2 2011, but electrical remains lackluster." Bank of America has also raised the price target from $9 to $9.50 on AK Steel, which is currently trading up $0.31 from yesterday's $8.57 closing price.