Investors Buy Large Volume of Agnico Eagle Mines Call Options (NYSE:AEM)

Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (NYSE:AEM) (TSE:AEM) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 10,191 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 51% compared to the average volume of 6,763 call options.

Agnico Eagle Mines Price Performance

Shares of AEM traded up $1.80 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $59.65. 4,699,500 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,113,622. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $50.83 and a 200-day moving average of $50.31. Agnico Eagle Mines has a 52 week low of $43.22 and a 52 week high of $61.15. The stock has a market cap of $29.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.38, a PEG ratio of 24.36 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 2.09.

Agnico Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) (TSE:AEM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 16th. The mining company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. Agnico Eagle Mines had a net margin of 29.29% and a return on equity of 5.54%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 26.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Agnico Eagle Mines will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agnico Eagle Mines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. Agnico Eagle Mines’s payout ratio is 38.93%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Agnico Eagle Mines

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Agnico Eagle Mines by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 23,059,010 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,264,791,000 after acquiring an additional 1,995,127 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd increased its position in shares of Agnico Eagle Mines by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 20,107,126 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,102,481,000 after purchasing an additional 2,831,794 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Agnico Eagle Mines by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,562,802 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $963,320,000 after purchasing an additional 338,264 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Agnico Eagle Mines by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,794,968 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $626,981,000 after buying an additional 152,166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Agnico Eagle Mines by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 9,852,941 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $511,175,000 after buying an additional 1,199,348 shares during the last quarter. 68.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. National Bank Financial reissued an “outperform overweight” rating on shares of Agnico Eagle Mines in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. CIBC dropped their price target on Agnico Eagle Mines from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. TD Securities decreased their price objective on Agnico Eagle Mines from $64.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Raymond James boosted their price target on Agnico Eagle Mines from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Agnico Eagle Mines in a report on Thursday, February 29th. They set a “hold” rating and a $54.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.71.

Agnico Eagle Mines Company Profile

Agnico Eagle Mines Limited, a gold mining company, exploration, development, and production of precious metals. The company's mines are located in Canada, Australia, Finland and Mexico, with exploration and development activities in Canada, Australia, Europe, Latin America, and the United States.