Agnico Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of Agnico Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) (TSE:AEM) to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on AEM. Wall Street Zen lowered Agnico Eagle Mines from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 11th. Zacks Research lowered Agnico Eagle Mines from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. TD lifted their target price on Agnico Eagle Mines from $251.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Agnico Eagle Mines from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, ATB Cormark Capital Markets raised shares of Agnico Eagle Mines from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.08.

Agnico Eagle Mines Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of AEM opened at $175.79 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 3.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Agnico Eagle Mines has a 52-week low of $114.60 and a 52-week high of $255.24. The company has a market cap of $87.98 billion, a PE ratio of 16.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a fifty day moving average of $197.96 and a 200 day moving average of $193.72.

Agnico Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) (TSE:AEM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The mining company reported $3.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.19 by $0.21. Agnico Eagle Mines had a net margin of 39.46% and a return on equity of 21.09%. The company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 66.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Agnico Eagle Mines will post 13.14 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Agnico Eagle Mines

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Salvus Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Agnico Eagle Mines by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,301 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,068,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Brookwood Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in Agnico Eagle Mines by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Brookwood Investment Group LLC now owns 1,361 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Baron Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Agnico Eagle Mines by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,879 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $319,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in Agnico Eagle Mines by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 5,266 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $893,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Agnico Eagle Mines by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC now owns 7,550 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,280,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.34% of the company’s stock.

Key Agnico Eagle Mines News

Here are the key news stories impacting Agnico Eagle Mines this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Agnico Eagle announced a major restart and expansion of its Hope Bay project in Nunavut, committing US$2.4 billion to build an underground gold mine and processing facility. The move supports future production growth and reinforces the company’s long-term development pipeline. Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM) To Begin Redevelopment Of The Hope Bay Mine With $2.4 Billion Investment
• Positive Sentiment: The company also expanded its stake in Wallbridge Mining by investing C$22.4 million, lifting ownership to about 19.9%. That investment could help advance Wallbridge’s Fenelon gold project and gives Agnico more exposure to additional Quebec gold assets. Agnico Eagle Expands Wallbridge Stake Through C$22.4M Investment
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent coverage highlighted Agnico Eagle’s strong earnings quality, cash-rich balance sheet, and profitability, which may support investor confidence but did not appear to be a new market-moving catalyst on its own. Agnico Eagle Earnings Call Highlights Cash-Rich Growth
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are also focusing on valuation and execution risk after a recent selloff, with shares down over the past month and quarter. The big Hope Bay commitment raises future growth potential, but it also increases capital spending expectations and near-term pressure on returns. Agnico Eagle: A 15 Percent Selloff In A Best-In-Class Gold Miner

About Agnico Eagle Mines

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.