Coeur d'Alene Mines (CDE: sentiment, chart, options) was cut from "outperform" to "neutral" today by analysts at Macquarie, in a move that seems long overdue following the stock's weak performance this year. CDE is down nearly 87% in 2008, and it's been trading south of the $1 mark consistently since mid-October. In fact, trading in the shares has been halted numerous times lately in observation of the NYSE's sub-penny rule.

Nonetheless, a significant portion of analysts are still bullish on Coeur d'Alene. Zacks reports 3 "buy" or better ratings, compared to 1 "hold" and 2 "sell" or worse recommendations. The stock's average 12-month price target is even more ambitious; Thomson Financial reports a consensus estimate of $2.08. This represents a premium of 215% to CDE's closing price on Monday.

Of course, with the equity trading near 75 cents per share, it's hard to imagine that downgrades or price-target cuts from analysts will result in too much downside. In fact, CDE is up about 11%, or 7 cents, at last check.