First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $28.97 and last traded at $29.4220, with a volume of 7218671 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $27.55.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Cormark upgraded First Majestic Silver from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of First Majestic Silver in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded First Majestic Silver from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of First Majestic Silver from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of First Majestic Silver in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Majestic Silver has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.00.

First Majestic Silver Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $14.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.86 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $20.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.84. The company has a quick ratio of 2.96, a current ratio of 3.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

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

First Majestic Silver Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be given a $0.0083 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. This is a positive change from First Majestic Silver’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. This represents a $0.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. First Majestic Silver’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.71%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Majestic Silver

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of First Majestic Silver by 32.0% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 43,225,807 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $531,234,000 after acquiring an additional 10,471,543 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in First Majestic Silver by 14.0% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,014,859 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $258,273,000 after purchasing an additional 2,581,023 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in First Majestic Silver by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,995,222 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $316,914,000 after purchasing an additional 945,067 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of First Majestic Silver by 38.5% in the 3rd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 18,932,368 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $232,539,000 after purchasing an additional 5,265,612 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of First Majestic Silver by 408.1% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 15,041,912 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $250,821,000 after purchasing an additional 12,081,688 shares during the last quarter. 27.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.