First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) have been given an average rating of “Buy” by the eight research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $25.00.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AG shares. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on First Majestic Silver from $12.50 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of First Majestic Silver in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of First Majestic Silver from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. HC Wainwright upped their price target on shares of First Majestic Silver to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First Majestic Silver from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st.

Institutional Trading of First Majestic Silver

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AG. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of First Majestic Silver by 408.1% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 15,041,912 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $250,821,000 after acquiring an additional 12,081,688 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of First Majestic Silver by 32.0% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 43,225,807 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $531,234,000 after acquiring an additional 10,471,543 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in First Majestic Silver by 74.2% during the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 13,666,756 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $112,880,000 after purchasing an additional 5,821,751 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in First Majestic Silver during the third quarter worth $55,071,000. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in First Majestic Silver by 108.7% in the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 7,203,207 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $88,527,000 after purchasing an additional 3,751,376 shares during the period. 27.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

First Majestic Silver Trading Up 6.9%

NYSE AG opened at $20.65 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $10.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.99 and a beta of 0.76. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.50. The company has a current ratio of 3.38, a quick ratio of 2.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. First Majestic Silver has a 52 week low of $5.18 and a 52 week high of $32.03.

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The mining company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $463.92 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $561.30 million. First Majestic Silver had a net margin of 13.12% and a return on equity of 7.41%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 169.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.03 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that First Majestic Silver will post 0.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Majestic Silver Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.0083 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. This is a positive change from First Majestic Silver’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. This represents a $0.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. First Majestic Silver’s dividend payout ratio is 8.57%.

About First Majestic Silver

First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) engages in the production of silver from its wholly owned operations in Mexico. Headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, the company focuses on acquiring, developing and operating high-grade silver projects. Established in 2002, First Majestic has built a multi-mine portfolio to supply silver primarily for the global industrial and investment markets while generating by-products such as gold, lead and zinc concentrates.

First Majestic’s principal operations are located in the historic Mexican Silver Belt, with producing mines including La Encantada in Coahuila, Santa Elena in Sonora and La Parrilla in Durango.