Commodities giant Glencore PLC (LON:GLEN) got the cold shoulder from scribes at Swiss broker UBS, who reckon there's better potential for returns from peers BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO).
Though it's upbeat on Glencore's commodity mix in the medium term, it sees no specific near term share catalysts likely to lift the shares.
It downgrades the stock to 'neutral' from 'buy' but does, however, lift the target to 370p from 350p.
Analyst Myles Allsopp notes the shares are up 30% in the year so far, outperforming other diversified miners by 16%, and also sees downside risk soon to prices on its key commodities of copper, zinc, nickel and thermal coal.
"We expect China's growth momentum to slow (not collapse) in 2018 with tighter credit impacting infrastructure and property," he says.
"... we also expect China's supply reform and pollution policy to remain key drivers in 2018 and beyond," he adds.
UBS reckons the recent rise in copper has been mainly driven by the weaker US dollar and as a result the price is vulnerable as mine supply increases after the first half disruption.
READ: Copper surges to two-year high on China demand expectations
The broker also reckons zinc looks "tight" but that prices are close to their peak with supply set to lift materially in 2018/19.
Nickel still looks challenging near-term with the recent strength driven by a stainless restock, it adds.
Thermal coal also looks tight in the near-term, the broker reckons, due to supply challenges and robust demand but supply is likely to lift.
Glencore is the world's largest producer and marketer of commodities. After its merger with Xstrata in 2013, the key commodities it is exposed to are copper and coal, as well as zinc and nickel.