First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) Trading Up 6.1% Following Dividend Announcement

First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) shares shot up 6.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $5.79 and last traded at $5.70. 5,855,152 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 17,622,150 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.37.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.0057 dividend. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This is an increase from First Majestic Silver’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. First Majestic Silver’s dividend payout ratio is currently -5.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on AG. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on First Majestic Silver from $6.50 to $6.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com upgraded First Majestic Silver from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $11.00 price target on shares of First Majestic Silver in a report on Friday.

First Majestic Silver Stock Down 3.7 %

The company has a quick ratio of 2.45, a current ratio of 3.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.84 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.01.

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The mining company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $172.34 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $227.77 million. First Majestic Silver had a negative return on equity of 3.06% and a negative net margin of 18.17%. On average, equities research analysts expect that First Majestic Silver Corp. will post 0.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of First Majestic Silver by 2.7% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 28,912,989 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $173,478,000 after buying an additional 764,790 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Majestic Silver by 135.2% during the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 13,596,866 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $74,647,000 after buying an additional 7,816,177 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of First Majestic Silver by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,423,691 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $62,784,000 after buying an additional 598,996 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its position in First Majestic Silver by 46.8% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 4,455,923 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $24,463,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420,937 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in First Majestic Silver by 897.8% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,759,181 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $20,638,000 after purchasing an additional 3,382,443 shares during the last quarter. 27.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About First Majestic Silver

First Majestic Silver Corp. engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of mineral properties with a focus on silver and gold production in North America. Its projects include the San Dimas mine covering an area of approximately 71,867 hectares located in Durango State, Mexico; the Santa Elena that covers an area of approximately 102,244 hectares located in Sonora State, México; and the La Encantada covering an area of approximately 4,076 hectares located in Coahuila State, México.