First Majestic Silver Corp. $AG Stake Raised by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) by 32.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 43,225,807 shares of the mining company’s stock after buying an additional 10,471,543 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 0.09% of First Majestic Silver worth $531,234,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AG. Bogart Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Majestic Silver in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Majestic Silver by 29,900.0% in the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 3,000 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 2,990 shares during the period. 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. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in First Majestic Silver by 7,831.6% during the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 6,028 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 5,952 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of First Majestic Silver by 1,149.7% in the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,286 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 5,783 shares in the last quarter. 27.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Majestic Silver Stock Up 1.2%

AG opened at $26.13 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.88 billion, a PE ratio of 74.66 and a beta of 0.75. 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 Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $5.18 and a fifty-two week high of $32.03. The business has a 50-day moving average of $23.16 and a 200-day moving average of $16.40.

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The mining company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $463.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $561.30 million. First Majestic Silver had a net margin of 13.12% and a return on equity of 7.41%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 169.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.03 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that First Majestic Silver Corp. will post 0.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Majestic Silver Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.0083 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $0.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. This is a positive change from First Majestic Silver’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. First Majestic Silver’s payout ratio is currently 8.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AG. Zacks Research upgraded First Majestic Silver from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of First Majestic Silver in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of First Majestic Silver in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of First Majestic Silver from $12.50 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Majestic Silver from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.00.

About First Majestic Silver

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.