First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) Upgraded by ATB Cormark Capital Markets to Moderate Buy Rating

ATB Cormark Capital Markets upgraded shares of First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) from a hold rating to a moderate buy rating in a report published on Friday morning,Zacks.com reports.

AG has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of First Majestic Silver from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Weiss Ratings lowered First Majestic Silver from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. HC Wainwright reduced their target price on First Majestic Silver from $30.75 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Scotiabank upgraded First Majestic Silver to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered First Majestic Silver from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.67.

First Majestic Silver Price Performance

NYSE AG traded down $0.17 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $16.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,442,059 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,635,216. First Majestic Silver has a 1 year low of $7.74 and a 1 year high of $32.03. The company has a quick ratio of 2.54, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a market capitalization of $8.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.32 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $18.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.90.

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 12th. The mining company reported $0.31 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 company had revenue of $476.67 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $522.00 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.05 EPS. First Majestic Silver’s quarterly revenue was up 95.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that First Majestic Silver will post 0.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Majestic Silver Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Majestic Silver

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Majestic Silver by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,014,859 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $258,273,000 after purchasing an additional 2,581,023 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of First Majestic Silver by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,995,222 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $316,914,000 after purchasing an additional 945,067 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in First Majestic Silver by 38.5% during 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 buying an additional 5,265,612 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in First Majestic Silver by 408.1% during 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 buying an additional 12,081,688 shares during the period. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in First Majestic Silver by 33.6% during the 4th quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 9,621,720 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $160,298,000 after buying an additional 2,418,513 shares during the period. 27.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.