UPDATE: Imperial Capital Downgrades HollyFrontier on Multiple Positive Factors

In a report published Monday, Imperial Capital analyst Ann Kohler downgraded the rating on

from Outperform to In-Line, and lowered the price target from $49.00 to $41.00. In the report, Imperial Capital noted, “We are downgrading our rating on HFC to In-Line from Outperform and lowering our one-year price target to $41 from $49. Our price target is about 2 below the recent share price. In light of the 2H13 contraction in refining margins and crude price differentials, we are lowering our 2013 and 2014 EPS estimates for HFC. Also, we expected continued pressure on the WTI-Brent crude price spread over the balance of the year and into 2014 as TransCanada commences operation of the southern portion of it 700,000b/d Keystone XL pipeline from Cushing, Oklahoma to Nederland, Texas later this month. With cash and short-term investments of $2.0bn, we expect that HFC will continue to return cash to shareholders through dividends (regular and special) and share repurchases.” HollyFrontier Corp. closed on Friday at $41.77.