First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) Upgraded at Scotiabank

Scotiabank upgraded shares of First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) to a hold rating in a research note released on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the company. HC Wainwright boosted their price target on First Majestic Silver to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded First Majestic Silver from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Zacks Research lowered First Majestic Silver from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Wall Street Zen lowered First Majestic Silver from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of First Majestic Silver in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.00.

First Majestic Silver Price Performance

Shares of AG stock opened at $20.57 on Thursday. First Majestic Silver has a 52-week low of $5.49 and a 52-week high of $32.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a current ratio of 2.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.78 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $23.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.91.

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The mining company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.03. First Majestic Silver had a return on equity of 7.25% and a net margin of 13.12%.The firm had revenue of $463.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $561.30 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.03 EPS. First Majestic Silver’s quarterly revenue was up 169.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that First Majestic Silver will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current year.

First Majestic Silver Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.0083 per share. This is an increase from First Majestic Silver’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. This represents a $0.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 27th. First Majestic Silver’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.57%.

Institutional Trading of First Majestic Silver

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in First Majestic Silver during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. EFG International AG purchased a new stake in First Majestic Silver during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Bogart Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in First Majestic Silver during the third quarter worth $28,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in First Majestic Silver during the first quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in First Majestic Silver during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.16% of the company’s stock.

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.