Van ECK Associates Corp Lowers Holdings in First Majestic Silver Corp. $AG

Van ECK Associates Corp reduced its position in First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,140,689 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 3,085,118 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 8.14% of First Majestic Silver worth $668,752,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AG. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Majestic Silver in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of First Majestic Silver in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Aventura Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Majestic Silver in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new stake in First Majestic Silver during the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Sittner & Nelson LLC bought a new stake in First Majestic Silver during the fourth quarter worth approximately $50,000. 27.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Majestic Silver Trading Up 4.2%

AG opened at $17.63 on Friday. First Majestic Silver Corp. has a one year low of $7.74 and a one year high of $32.03. The stock has a market cap of $8.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.39 and a beta of 0.86. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $20.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.54 and a current ratio of 2.73.

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 12th. The mining company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.02). First Majestic Silver had a return on equity of 11.19% and a net margin of 19.51%.The firm had revenue of $476.67 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $522.00 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.05 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 95.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that First Majestic Silver Corp. will post 0.74 EPS for the current year.

First Majestic Silver Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th were paid a $0.0171 dividend. This represents a $0.07 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. This is an increase from First Majestic Silver’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. First Majestic Silver’s payout ratio is currently 11.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on First Majestic Silver to $30.75 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Zacks Research cut First Majestic Silver from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised First Majestic Silver from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Wall Street Zen cut First Majestic Silver from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Scotiabank raised First Majestic Silver to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.25.

First Majestic Silver 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.