Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Agnico Eagle Mines Limited $AEM

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group increased its stake in Agnico Eagle Mines by 134.8% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 150,483 shares valued at about $30.4 million.
• Institutional ownership remains high, with 68.34% of Agnico Eagle Mines' stock held by hedge funds and other institutional investors, and several other funds also recently raised their positions.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but generally constructive: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus with an average target price of $233.62, while recent reports included both upgrades and target price cuts.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (NYSE:AEM - Free Report) TSE: AEM by 134.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 150,483 shares of the mining company's stock after acquiring an additional 86,394 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Agnico Eagle Mines were worth $30,448,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in Agnico Eagle Mines by 42.9% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 65,404 shares of the mining company's stock worth $11,088,000 after buying an additional 19,647 shares during the last quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Agnico Eagle Mines by 187.6% in the fourth quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. now owns 48,104 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $8,155,000 after acquiring an additional 31,378 shares in the last quarter. TB Alternative Assets Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Agnico Eagle Mines by 34.2% in the fourth quarter. TB Alternative Assets Ltd. now owns 229,630 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $38,929,000 after acquiring an additional 58,490 shares in the last quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG increased its stake in shares of Agnico Eagle Mines by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 46,141 shares of the mining company's stock worth $7,822,000 after acquiring an additional 12,244 shares during the period. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Agnico Eagle Mines during the fourth quarter worth about $2,198,000. 68.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AEM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. ATB Cormark Capital Markets upgraded shares of Agnico Eagle Mines from a "hold" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen cut Agnico Eagle Mines from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Agnico Eagle Mines from $220.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce set a $285.00 price target on Agnico Eagle Mines in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Agnico Eagle Mines from $210.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Agnico Eagle Mines has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $233.62.

Agnico Eagle Mines Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE AEM opened at $136.89 on Monday. 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 Limited has a 52 week low of $117.65 and a 52 week high of $255.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $165.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $191.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.60.

Agnico Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM - Get Free Report) TSE: AEM last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The mining company reported $3.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business posted $1.53 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 66.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Agnico Eagle Mines Limited will post 12.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.

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