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

Shares of First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $23.50.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. ATB Cormark Capital Markets upgraded First Majestic Silver from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research lowered First Majestic Silver from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Weiss Ratings cut First Majestic Silver from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. HC Wainwright lowered their price target on First Majestic Silver from $30.75 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price target on First Majestic Silver from $23.00 to $22.50 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th.

First Majestic Silver Stock Performance

NYSE AG opened at $16.30 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $8.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.18 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 2.54, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The business has a fifty day moving average of $17.85 and a 200-day moving average of $20.86. First Majestic Silver has a fifty-two week low of $7.74 and a fifty-two week high of $32.03.

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 12th. The mining company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.02). First Majestic Silver had a return on equity of 11.19% and a net margin of 19.51%.The firm had revenue of $476.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $522.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.05 earnings per share. First Majestic Silver’s revenue for the quarter was up 95.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that First Majestic Silver will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Majestic Silver Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th were issued a $0.0171 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $0.07 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. This is an increase from First Majestic Silver’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. First Majestic Silver’s payout ratio is currently 11.67%.

Institutional Trading of First Majestic Silver

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in First Majestic Silver by 77.4% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 604,186 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $4,042,000 after purchasing an additional 263,688 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of First Majestic Silver by 355.7% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,193,589 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $7,985,000 after acquiring an additional 931,690 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of First Majestic Silver by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 240,083 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,994,000 after buying an additional 26,553 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in First Majestic Silver by 25.3% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 28,837 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $238,000 after acquiring an additional 5,828 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in First Majestic Silver by 12.8% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 25,940 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $215,000 after acquiring an additional 2,936 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.