Brokerages Set First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) Price Target at $17.33

First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $17.3333.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of First Majestic Silver in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. National Bankshares set a $22.00 price objective on First Majestic Silver and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded First Majestic Silver from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of First Majestic Silver in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Cormark upgraded First Majestic Silver from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th.

First Majestic Silver Stock Performance

AG opened at $16.04 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.59. 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 stock has a market cap of $7.87 billion, a PE ratio of 114.54 and a beta of 0.84. First Majestic Silver has a 1 year low of $5.09 and a 1 year high of $17.37.

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The mining company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by ($0.04). First Majestic Silver had a return on equity of 3.14% and a net margin of 7.07%.The business had revenue of $285.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $429.78 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.09) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 95.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that First Majestic Silver will post 0.54 EPS for the current year.

First Majestic Silver Increases Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Majestic Silver

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $531,234,000 after buying an additional 10,471,543 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in First Majestic Silver by 74.2% during the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 13,666,756 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $112,880,000 after acquiring 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 valued at $55,071,000. Sprott Inc. raised its position in First Majestic Silver by 603.8% in the 1st quarter. Sprott Inc. now owns 4,612,904 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $30,856,000 after purchasing an additional 3,957,459 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in First Majestic Silver by 108.7% in the third 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 in the last quarter. 27.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Majestic Silver Company Profile

First Majestic Silver Corp. engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of mineral properties with a focus on silver and gold production in North America. Its projects include the San Dimas mine covering an area of approximately 71,867 hectares located in Durango State, Mexico; the Santa Elena that covers an area of approximately 102,244 hectares located in Sonora State, México; and the La Encantada covering an area of approximately 4,076 hectares located in Coahuila State, México.