Agnico Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.55 EPS

Agnico Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) (TSE:AEM) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The mining company reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.55, Zacks reports. Agnico Eagle Mines had a return on equity of 15.64% and a net margin of 32.62%.

Agnico Eagle Mines Stock Down 5.5%

Shares of AEM traded down $11.84 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $205.35. 3,749,785 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,020,515. The company has a current ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.63. Agnico Eagle Mines has a 1 year low of $92.11 and a 1 year high of $225.00. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $187.89 and its 200-day moving average is $166.63.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Agnico Eagle Mines

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AEM. Nuveen LLC grew its stake in shares of Agnico Eagle Mines by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 1,352,291 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $229,404,000 after acquiring an additional 195,612 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Agnico Eagle Mines by 566.2% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 888,239 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $149,593,000 after purchasing an additional 754,919 shares in the last quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec lifted its stake in shares of Agnico Eagle Mines by 1.6% during the third quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 754,391 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $127,087,000 after buying an additional 12,076 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Agnico Eagle Mines by 5.5% during the third quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 741,808 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $124,797,000 after buying an additional 38,917 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Agnico Eagle Mines by 8.5% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 623,379 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $105,077,000 after buying an additional 49,025 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on AEM. Jefferies Financial Group set a $189.00 price objective on Agnico Eagle Mines in a report on Sunday, December 7th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Agnico Eagle Mines from $219.00 to $276.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded shares of Agnico Eagle Mines from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $185.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Bank of America increased their target price on Agnico Eagle Mines from $209.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce set a $296.00 price target on Agnico Eagle Mines and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $230.64.

Agnico Eagle Mines Company Profile

Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (NYSE: AEM) is a Canadian-based senior gold producer headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The company is principally engaged in the exploration, development, production and reclamation of gold-bearing properties. Agnico Eagle pursues both greenfield and brownfield exploration to expand its resource base and operates a portfolio of producing mines and development projects to generate long-life gold production.

Its core business activities span the full mining lifecycle: grassroots and advanced-stage exploration, prefeasibility and feasibility studies, mine construction, underground and open-pit mining, ore processing and metal recovery, and post-mining reclamation and closure.