First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) shares gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $17.21, but opened at $17.77. First Majestic Silver shares last traded at $17.0830, with a volume of 3,608,120 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AG shares. Cormark upgraded First Majestic Silver from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded First Majestic Silver from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 16th. National Bank Financial upgraded First Majestic Silver from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 5th. National Bankshares set a $22.00 price objective on shares of First Majestic Silver and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of First Majestic Silver from $9.00 to $12.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, First Majestic Silver currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.33.

First Majestic Silver Trading Up 1.0%

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $13.89 and a 200 day moving average of $11.16. The company has a quick ratio of 2.96, a current ratio of 3.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market cap of $8.53 billion, a PE ratio of 124.14 and a beta of 0.84.

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The mining company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.11 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $285.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $429.78 million. First Majestic Silver had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 3.14%. The firm’s revenue was up 95.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.09) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that First Majestic Silver Corp. will post 0.54 earnings per share for the current year.

First Majestic Silver Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.0052 per share. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. This is a positive change from First Majestic Silver’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. First Majestic Silver’s dividend payout ratio is 14.29%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Majestic Silver

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its position in shares of First Majestic Silver by 2.8% in the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 35,295 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $434,000 after acquiring an additional 945 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its holdings in First Majestic Silver by 33.2% in the 3rd quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 3,898 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 971 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in First Majestic Silver by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 22,275 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $274,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its position in First Majestic Silver by 6.1% during the second quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 22,357 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $185,000 after purchasing an additional 1,282 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC grew its holdings in First Majestic Silver by 2.7% in the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 51,588 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $634,000 after purchasing an additional 1,366 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.16% of the company’s stock.

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.