Legal & General Group Plc Has $218.69 Million Holdings in Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (NYSE:AEM)

Legal & General Group Plc cut its holdings in Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (NYSE:AEM) (TSE:AEM) by 24.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,796,742 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 919,722 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Agnico Eagle Mines were worth $218,691,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in Agnico Eagle Mines during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Agnico Eagle Mines by 859.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 355 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Agnico Eagle Mines during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in Agnico Eagle Mines by 176.9% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 407 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in Agnico Eagle Mines by 37.3% during the fourth quarter. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. now owns 412 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. 68.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Agnico Eagle Mines Trading Up 5.6 %

Shares of Agnico Eagle Mines stock opened at $105.75 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $100.85 and a 200-day moving average of $89.36. The stock has a market cap of $53.19 billion, a PE ratio of 27.98, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.87. Agnico Eagle Mines Limited has a 52-week low of $60.15 and a 52-week high of $111.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.86.

Agnico Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) (TSE:AEM) last announced its earnings results 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Agnico Eagle Mines Limited will post 4.63 EPS for the current year.

Agnico Eagle Mines Announces Dividend

The company 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 of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.51%. Agnico Eagle Mines’s dividend payout ratio is 42.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AEM shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Agnico Eagle Mines from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Agnico Eagle Mines from $100.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Agnico Eagle Mines from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Agnico Eagle Mines from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Agnico Eagle Mines to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.40.

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.