First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the nine analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $23.8333.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AG. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of First Majestic Silver from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. Weiss Ratings downgraded First Majestic Silver from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Scotiabank cut their price objective 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. 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. Finally, HC Wainwright raised their target price on shares of First Majestic Silver from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st.

Institutional Trading of First Majestic Silver

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of First Majestic Silver by 408.1% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 15,041,912 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $250,821,000 after acquiring an additional 12,081,688 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in First Majestic Silver during the 2nd quarter valued at $59,610,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in First Majestic Silver during the first quarter worth about $62,760,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of First Majestic Silver by 92.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,082,824 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $130,659,000 after purchasing an additional 2,919,008 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP bought a new position in shares of First Majestic Silver in the fourth quarter valued at $45,898,000. 27.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Majestic Silver Price Performance

AG stock opened at $20.86 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.35. First Majestic Silver has a twelve month low of $8.39 and a twelve month high of $32.03. The company has a current ratio of 2.57, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a market capitalization of $10.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.38 and a beta of 0.94.

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The mining company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $415.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $496.00 million. First Majestic Silver had a return on equity of 13.36% and a net margin of 21.18%.First Majestic Silver’s quarterly revenue was up 57.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.11 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that First Majestic Silver will post 0.81 EPS for the current year.

First Majestic Silver Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a $0.0152 dividend. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. First Majestic Silver’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.45%.

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.