Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG)

First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Traders purchased 63,413 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 87% compared to the typical volume of 33,960 call options.

Institutional Trading of First Majestic Silver

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in First Majestic Silver in the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in First Majestic Silver by 184.5% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,508 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 978 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in First Majestic Silver by 36.4% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 560 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Majestic Silver during the third quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in First Majestic Silver in the second quarter valued at about $53,000. 27.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. HC Wainwright reduced their target price on shares of First Majestic Silver from $27.00 to $25.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 9th. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of First Majestic Silver from $23.00 to $22.50 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Zacks Research cut First Majestic Silver from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, October 19th. ATB Cormark Capital Markets upgraded First Majestic Silver from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of First Majestic Silver in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $24.00.

First Majestic Silver Price Performance

Shares of AG stock traded up $0.58 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $15.44. The stock had a trading volume of 4,999,788 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,590,987. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.77 and a beta of 0.97. First Majestic Silver has a one year low of $10.19 and a one year high of $32.03. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $18.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.57 and a quick ratio of 2.38.

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The mining company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.04). First Majestic Silver had a net margin of 21.18% and a return on equity of 13.36%. The business had revenue of $415.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $496.00 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.11 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 57.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that First Majestic Silver will post 0.80 EPS for the current year.

First Majestic Silver Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th were given a dividend of $0.0152 per share. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. This is a negative change from First Majestic Silver’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.0171. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. First Majestic Silver’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.45%.

About First Majestic Silver

First Majestic Silver Corp. is a mining company focused on the exploration, development, and production of silver and gold. The company operates producing mines in Mexico and the United States and sells silver bullion and related products through its in-house First Mint division.

First Majestic’s Mexican operations include the San Dimas Silver/Gold Mine in Durango, the Santa Elena Silver/Gold Mine in Sonora, and the La Encantada Silver Mine in Coahuila. The company also owns the Jerritt Canyon Gold Mine in Nevada, although operations there have been suspended while First Majestic evaluates its future.

Founded in 2002 and headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, First Majestic has historically concentrated its growth strategy on acquiring and developing precious-metals assets in the Americas.