First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $17.3333.

AG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of First Majestic Silver in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of First Majestic Silver from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 16th. Scotiabank boosted 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 report on Thursday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of First Majestic Silver in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, National Bankshares set a $22.00 price objective on shares of First Majestic Silver and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th.

First Majestic Silver Trading Up 9.8%

First Majestic Silver stock opened at $18.71 on Wednesday. First Majestic Silver has a 12 month low of $5.09 and a 12 month high of $18.73. 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 $9.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 133.61 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $14.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.61.

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The mining company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by ($0.04). First Majestic Silver had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 3.14%. The firm had revenue of $285.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $429.78 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.09) EPS. First Majestic Silver’s revenue for the quarter was up 95.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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 Friday, November 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th were given a $0.0052 dividend. This is an increase from First Majestic Silver’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. First Majestic Silver’s payout ratio is presently 14.29%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in First Majestic Silver by 32.0% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 43,225,807 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $531,234,000 after purchasing an additional 10,471,543 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in First Majestic Silver by 74.2% in the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 13,666,756 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $112,880,000 after buying an additional 5,821,751 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in First Majestic Silver in the 3rd quarter worth $55,071,000. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in First Majestic Silver by 108.7% in the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 7,203,207 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $88,527,000 after acquiring an additional 3,751,376 shares during the period. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in First Majestic Silver during the 3rd quarter worth $32,795,000. 27.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.