Jefferies Starts Ma'aden Coverage at Buy Amid Positive Product, Margin Outlook

06:05 AM EDT, 08/18/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Jefferies began its coverage of Saudi Arabian Mining Co. (SASE:1211), d/b/a Ma'aden, with a buy rating and price target of 75 Saudi riyals, highlighting the company's margin potential and its primary product markets that are "not oversupplied." "Ma'aden benefits from exposure to [diammonium phosphate, aluminum] and gold, which are not oversupplied and have a positive margin outlook. The correlation between gold and Ma'aden's share price has averaged close to 95% since 2025. Its capacity is integrated, relatively less dependent on the [Strait of Hormuz (aluminum, gold)] and scheduled to increase. The stock has underperformed the index (-10%) since the conflict started and is trading on a 12m EV/EBITDA of 14.6x, c5% below its long-term average," according to a Tuesday note focused on chemicals and fertilizers companies in the Middle East and North Africa. The research firm said the mining company's gold and aluminum operations are "relatively less" affected by the Strait of Hormuz closure, thanks to full vertical integration to its own mines, domestic aluminum demand, and gold exports not depending on the waterway. Conversely, analysts noted that geopolitical supply bottlenecks and soaring sulfur costs squeezed Ma'aden's phosphate margins in the first half, though trade normalization is expected to bring relief to both sulfur prices and availability. Jefferies added that long-term aluminum pricing is "likely to benefit" from catalysts such as the international energy transition, electric vehicle adoption and infrastructure spending.