First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $20.35, but opened at $18.25. First Majestic Silver shares last traded at $18.6320, with a volume of 10,446,588 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. HC Wainwright upped their target price on shares of First Majestic Silver to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of First Majestic Silver from $12.50 to $23.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of First Majestic Silver in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of First Majestic Silver in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of First Majestic Silver from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.00.

First Majestic Silver Trading Down 8.1%

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $24.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.06. 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 $9.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.58 and a beta of 0.76.

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The mining company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.03. First Majestic Silver had a net margin of 13.12% and a return on equity of 7.41%. The company had revenue of $463.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $561.30 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.03 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 169.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that First Majestic Silver Corp. 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 paid a $0.0083 dividend. This is an increase from First Majestic Silver’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. This represents a $0.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 27th. First Majestic Silver’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.57%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Majestic Silver

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AG. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in First Majestic Silver by 32.0% during 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. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Majestic Silver by 14.0% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,014,859 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $258,273,000 after purchasing an additional 2,581,023 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in First Majestic Silver by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,995,222 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $316,914,000 after purchasing an additional 945,067 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in First Majestic Silver by 38.5% in the third quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 18,932,368 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $232,539,000 after purchasing an additional 5,265,612 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in First Majestic Silver by 408.1% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 15,041,912 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $250,821,000 after purchasing an additional 12,081,688 shares during the last quarter. 27.16% of the stock is currently 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.