Traders Buy High Volume of First Majestic Silver Call Options (NYSE:AG)

First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Traders acquired 91,398 call options on the company. This is an increase of 40% compared to the average daily volume of 65,068 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. National Bank Financial raised shares of First Majestic Silver from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 5th. TD Securities raised First Majestic Silver from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of First Majestic Silver in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded First Majestic Silver from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 16th. Finally, HC Wainwright set a $17.50 target price on First Majestic Silver in a research note on Friday, October 10th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bogart Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Majestic Silver during the third quarter worth $28,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its position in First Majestic Silver by 29,900.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 3,000 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 2,990 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its stake 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. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new position in First Majestic Silver during the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in First Majestic Silver during the 3rd quarter worth about $57,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.16% of the company’s stock.

First Majestic Silver Stock Performance

Shares of First Majestic Silver stock opened at $16.70 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.24. The company has a current ratio of 3.38, a quick ratio of 2.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market capitalization of $8.20 billion, a PE ratio of 119.27 and a beta of 0.84. First Majestic Silver has a 12 month low of $5.09 and a 12 month high of $17.91.

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The mining company reported $0.07 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $429.78 million. First Majestic Silver had a return on equity of 3.14% and a net margin of 7.07%.The firm’s revenue was up 95.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.09) earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that First Majestic Silver will post 0.54 EPS for the current year.

First Majestic Silver Increases Dividend

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

First Majestic Silver Company Profile

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.