** Canadian gold miner’s shares down 1.3 pct at $13.84 in heavy premarket trading after Citigroup double downgrades to “sell” from “buy”
** Analyst Alexander Hacking cuts rating as risks now appear skewed to the downside; slashes PT by $7 to $13
** ABX no longer a “turnaround story” with debt reduction and asset sale catalyst largely behind the co; could soon be entering a reinvestment phase to maintain production
** Says YTD operating performance is lackluster and ABX faces challenges at its subsidiary, Acacia, through which it owns gold mines and exploration properties in Africa
** Hacking remains neutral to cautious on the gold sector heading into 2018; majors will continue to struggle to generate earnings growth and/or FCF
** Gold miners will likely outperform the broader mining sector in the event of a China slowdown yet, absolute performance would still be weak - Hacking
** Hacking is rated 3 on 5 stars for his overall recommendation accuracy, per TR StarMine
** ABX down 12 pct this year (Reporting by Medha Singh)
