Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (NYSE:AEM) Short Interest Up 22.4% in February

Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (NYSE:AEM) (TSE:AEM) was the target of a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 6,400,000 shares, a growth of 22.4% from the February 13th total of 5,230,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,110,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days. Currently, 1.3% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Agnico Eagle Mines

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Agnico Eagle Mines in the 4th quarter worth about $573,446,000. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 4,562,005 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Agnico Eagle Mines by 41.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,952,061 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,091,550,000 after acquiring an additional 4,121,164 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Agnico Eagle Mines by 81.0% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 7,051,473 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $551,339,000 after purchasing an additional 3,155,927 shares during the period. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Agnico Eagle Mines by 184.6% during the 4th quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 1,395,850 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $109,205,000 after purchasing an additional 905,328 shares in the last quarter. 68.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AEM. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Agnico Eagle Mines from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Agnico Eagle Mines from $96.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Raymond James set a $105.00 target price on shares of Agnico Eagle Mines and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. TD Securities cut their price target on Agnico Eagle Mines from $108.00 to $106.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on Agnico Eagle Mines from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.78.

Agnico Eagle Mines Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AEM opened at $105.52 on Thursday. Agnico Eagle Mines has a fifty-two week low of $54.02 and a fifty-two week high of $107.88. The company’s 50-day moving average is $94.93 and its 200 day moving average is $86.53. 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 company has a market capitalization of $53.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Agnico Eagle Mines Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued 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 1.52%. Agnico Eagle Mines’s payout ratio is 42.33%.

Agnico Eagle Mines Company Profile

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.