Traders Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on Agnico Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM)

Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (NYSE:AEM) (TSE:AEM) saw some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock traders bought 11,407 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 94% compared to the typical volume of 5,874 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Agnico Eagle Mines from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Agnico Eagle Mines from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Raymond James set a $105.00 price target on Agnico Eagle Mines and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com cut Agnico Eagle Mines from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Agnico Eagle Mines from $96.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Agnico Eagle Mines has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.78.

Agnico Eagle Mines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AEM traded up $1.20 during trading on Monday, reaching $104.80. The stock had a trading volume of 1,035,951 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,331,890. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.86. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $93.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.06. The stock has a market cap of $52.71 billion, a PE ratio of 27.73, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.00. Agnico Eagle Mines has a 1-year low of $54.02 and a 1-year high of $105.38.

Agnico Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) (TSE:AEM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The mining company reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by ($0.44). Agnico Eagle Mines had a return on equity of 10.45% and a net margin of 22.88%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Agnico Eagle Mines will post 4.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agnico Eagle Mines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. Agnico Eagle Mines’s payout ratio is 42.33%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Agnico Eagle Mines

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Agnico Eagle Mines by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 22,322,859 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,745,858,000 after buying an additional 778,919 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Agnico Eagle Mines by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,865,285 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,554,180,000 after purchasing an additional 331,087 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in Agnico Eagle Mines by 43.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,061,244 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,213,311,000 after purchasing an additional 4,562,005 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its position in Agnico Eagle Mines by 41.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,952,061 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,091,550,000 after purchasing an additional 4,121,164 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in Agnico Eagle Mines by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 11,916,739 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $932,008,000 after purchasing an additional 87,410 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.34% of the company’s stock.

About Agnico Eagle Mines

Agnico Eagle Mines Limited, a gold mining company, exploration, development, and production of precious metals. It explores for gold. 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.