First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) Shares Up 7.1% – Here’s Why

First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) shares were up 7.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $20.71 and last traded at $20.6910. Approximately 5,583,446 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 25,671,088 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.32.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. HC Wainwright boosted their price target on shares of First Majestic Silver to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of First Majestic Silver from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Wall Street Zen raised First Majestic Silver from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of First Majestic Silver in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised First Majestic Silver from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.00.

First Majestic Silver Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $10.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.15 and a beta of 0.76. The business’s fifty day moving average is $24.03 and its 200 day moving average is $17.42. The company has a current ratio of 3.38, a quick ratio of 2.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) last issued its 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. The business had revenue of $463.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $561.30 million. First Majestic Silver had a return on equity of 7.41% and a net margin of 13.12%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 169.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.03 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that First Majestic Silver Corp. will post 0.54 EPS for the current year.

First Majestic Silver Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Majestic Silver

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AG. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its position in First Majestic Silver by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 141,161 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $2,352,000 after acquiring an additional 13,255 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors bought a new stake in First Majestic Silver in the fourth quarter worth approximately $191,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in shares of First Majestic Silver by 18,702.6% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 58,476 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $974,000 after purchasing an additional 58,165 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of First Majestic Silver by 49.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,552,733 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $25,869,000 after purchasing an additional 511,230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthspire Retirement LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Majestic Silver by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Retirement LLC now owns 32,450 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $541,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. 27.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.