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NEW YORK A Banc of America analyst downgraded shares of the New York Times Co. Wednesday, saying Wall Street expects unrealistically strong spending from luxury and national advertisers.

Analyst Joe Arns said the company is his least favorite in the newspaper publishing sector, and lowered his rating to "Sell" from "Neutral." His price target on the stock, which traded at all-time lows in the last two months, went to $14 per share from $21.

Shares reached a low of $16.74 Tuesday and closed at $16.83.

Arns said analysts expect luxury and national advertisers to spend more money than the rest of the market. But he thinks the economy could be headed for a mild recession and said those advertisers will reduce spending like other advertisers.

"Under this scenario, we would expect New York Times' national advertisers to reduce spending in line with the industry, eliminating the advantage that the company has enjoyed in recent months in which luxury goods makers and retailers continue to grow their ad spend," he said.

National advertising revenue, primarily from the flagship New York Times paper, makes up a little less than half of the company's total advertising revenue.

The analyst added that a slowdown in financial services spending could hurt the company because about half of its revenue comes from business centers New York and Boston.