First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $19.83, but opened at $19.17. First Majestic Silver shares last traded at $19.7320, with a volume of 6,525,062 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AG. TD Securities upgraded shares of First Majestic Silver from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of First Majestic Silver in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of 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. Wall Street Zen cut shares of First Majestic Silver from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 16th. Finally, National Bankshares set a $22.00 target price on First Majestic Silver and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Majestic Silver presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.33.

First Majestic Silver Stock Up 1.1%

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $15.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.04. 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 capitalization of $9.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 143.32 and a beta of 0.77.

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

First Majestic Silver Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th were paid a dividend of $0.0052 per share. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a dividend 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 14.29%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Majestic Silver

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in First Majestic Silver by 32.0% in 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 buying an additional 10,471,543 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of First Majestic Silver by 74.2% in the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 13,666,756 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $112,880,000 after buying an additional 5,821,751 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in First Majestic Silver during the third quarter valued at $55,071,000. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its position in First Majestic Silver by 108.7% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 7,203,207 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $88,527,000 after buying an additional 3,751,376 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of First Majestic Silver in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,795,000. 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.