Agnico Eagle (AEM) Touches New 52-Week High At $50.80

Shares of Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (NYSE:AEM) scaled a new 52-week high of $50.80 on Monday before retracing to end the day at $50.26.

The gold producer, with a market cap of roughly $11.08 billion, has delivered a year-to-date return of about 91.86%, higher than the S&P 500’s corresponding return of around 4.22%. Average volume of shares traded over the last three months is roughly 2,681K.

Growth Drivers

Agnico Eagle reported adjusted earnings of 6 cents per share in first-quarter 2016, comfortably beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 2 cents. Revenues rose 1.4% year over year to $490.5 million in the quarter and surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $477 million.

Agnico Eagle continues to concentrate on mine exploration for output expansion. Total gold production of 411,336 ounces in the last reported quarter was up 1.8% year over year. The company is carrying out several studies to exploit the total potential of its mines. At the LaRonde mine, studies are being conducted to extract higher grade gold ounces, while further exploration is underway at other mines including Kittila, the Barsele project and El Barquno. The company is now expected to produce the higher end of its previously stated guidance range of 1.525−1.565 million ounces of gold in 2016.

Additionally, management has developed a revised life of mine plan. The new plan predicts a shorter life span of the mine and lower gold production, but allows the company to generate significant free cash flow over the next 6 years.

Agnico Eagle has consistently provided returns to shareholders in the form of dividends and share buybacks. In the first quarter of 2016, the company declared a dividend of 8 cents a share.

Agnico Eagle currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked companies in the same space are B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG) , sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited (NYSE:HMY) and Alamos Gold, Inc. (TO:AGI) , both carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).