First Majestic Silver Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:AG)

First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Monday. Traders bought 91,398 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 40% compared to the typical daily volume of 65,068 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AG shares. Cormark raised shares of First Majestic Silver from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. National Bank Financial upgraded First Majestic Silver from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, October 5th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of First Majestic Silver in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. HC Wainwright set a $17.50 price target on shares of First Majestic Silver in a report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on First Majestic Silver from $9.00 to $12.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, First Majestic Silver presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.33.

Institutional Trading of First Majestic Silver

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AG. Bogart Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in First Majestic Silver in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new position in shares of First Majestic Silver during the first quarter worth about $29,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of First Majestic Silver by 29,900.0% during the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 3,000 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 2,990 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its holdings in First Majestic Silver by 57.2% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,114 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its stake in First Majestic Silver by 33.2% during the third quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 3,898 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 971 shares in the last quarter. 27.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Majestic Silver Stock Down 4.1%

Shares of First Majestic Silver stock traded down $0.72 on Monday, reaching $16.70. 23,136,153 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,862,291. The company has a market cap of $8.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 119.27 and a beta of 0.84. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $13.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 3.38 and a quick ratio of 2.96. First Majestic Silver has a 1-year low of $5.09 and a 1-year high of $17.91.

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

First Majestic Silver Increases Dividend

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

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.