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

Shares of First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $25.00.

Several research firms have commented on AG. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on First Majestic Silver to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of First Majestic Silver in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Wall Street Zen raised First Majestic Silver from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Zacks Research upgraded First Majestic Silver from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of First Majestic Silver from $12.50 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Majestic Silver

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in First Majestic Silver by 408.1% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 15,041,912 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $250,821,000 after buying an additional 12,081,688 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of First Majestic Silver by 32.0% in 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 during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 5,821,751 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in shares of First Majestic Silver in the 3rd quarter worth $55,071,000. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First Majestic Silver by 108.7% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. 27.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Majestic Silver Price Performance

First Majestic Silver stock opened at $18.26 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 3.38 and a quick ratio of 2.96. The stock has a market cap of $9.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.17 and a beta of 0.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $24.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.24. First Majestic Silver has a 1 year low of $5.18 and a 1 year high of $32.03.

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The mining company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $463.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $561.30 million. First Majestic Silver had a net margin of 13.12% and a return on equity of 7.41%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 169.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.03 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that First Majestic Silver will post 0.54 earnings per share for the current year.

First Majestic Silver Increases Dividend

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

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.