Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (NYSE:AEM) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

Agnico Eagle Mines Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:AEM traded down $0.62 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $105.20. 939,159 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,331,009. Agnico Eagle Mines has a 12-month low of $54.02 and a 12-month high of $107.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.91 billion, a PE ratio of 27.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Agnico Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) (TSE:AEM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The mining company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, research analysts anticipate that Agnico Eagle Mines will post 4.63 EPS for the current year.

Agnico Eagle Mines Announces Dividend

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. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Agnico Eagle Mines’s payout ratio is 42.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AEM. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Agnico Eagle Mines from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target 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 price objective on Agnico Eagle Mines and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research 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 report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Agnico Eagle Mines from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Agnico Eagle Mines has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.78.

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.