UPDATE: Oppenheimer Downgrades GSE Environmental on Competitive Pressures

In a report published Monday, Oppenheimer analyst Jim Giannakouros downgraded GSE Environmental GSE from Outperform to Perform, and removed the $10.00 price target.

In the report, Oppenheimer noted, “We're downgrading GSE from Outperform to Perform and removing our $10 price target. Persistent pricing pressures in landfill end markets (NA & Europe) and lower mining volumes (mainly NA) drove the underperformance in 1H13—and we don't envision these trends reversing near term. Notably, GSE has yet to see price competition in its higher-spec products (think coal ash, shale fracking applications, leak detection, etc.), but healthier growth and margin trends here are not enough to offset pressures in its larger, more established markets. Declining EBITDA triggered a breach of debt covenants introducing balance sheet risk, and the search for new leadership (CEO) adds another layer of uncertainty.”

GSE Environmental closed on Friday at $3.07.