First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) shares gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $20.40, but opened at $22.19. First Majestic Silver shares last traded at $21.6770, with a volume of 3,805,518 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of First Majestic Silver from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 16th. TD Securities upgraded First Majestic Silver from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on First Majestic Silver from $12.50 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Cormark upgraded shares of First Majestic Silver from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, HC Wainwright lifted their target price on First Majestic Silver from $17.50 to $24.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. One investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First Majestic Silver currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.17.

First Majestic Silver Stock Up 6.5%

The business has a 50 day moving average price of $18.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 154.85 and a beta of 0.84. 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 (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 3.14% and a net margin of 7.07%.The company’s revenue was up 95.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.09) EPS. On average, analysts predict that First Majestic Silver Corp. will post 0.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in First Majestic Silver in the 3rd quarter valued at $55,071,000. Capital Management Associates Inc bought a new position in shares of First Majestic Silver in the second quarter valued at about $333,000. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych Allianz Polska S.A. lifted its position in First Majestic Silver by 120.8% during the 3rd quarter. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych Allianz Polska S.A. now owns 93,600 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,150,000 after buying an additional 51,200 shares in the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of First Majestic Silver by 1,216.2% in the second quarter. FORA Capital LLC now owns 340,695 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $2,818,000 after acquiring an additional 314,811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of First Majestic Silver by 157.9% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,420,322 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $11,762,000 after purchasing an additional 869,697 shares during the last quarter. 27.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.