Rathbones Group PLC Grows Holdings in First Majestic Silver Corp. $AG

Rathbones Group PLC lifted its stake in First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) by 66.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 185,720 shares of the mining company’s stock after acquiring an additional 74,260 shares during the quarter. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in First Majestic Silver were worth $3,983,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in First Majestic Silver by 77.4% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 604,186 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $4,042,000 after purchasing an additional 263,688 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in shares of First Majestic Silver by 355.7% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,193,589 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $7,985,000 after buying an additional 931,690 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of First Majestic Silver by 12.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 240,083 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,994,000 after buying an additional 26,553 shares during the period. Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of First Majestic Silver by 25.3% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 28,837 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $238,000 after buying an additional 5,828 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of First Majestic Silver by 12.8% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 25,940 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $215,000 after buying an additional 2,936 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.16% of the company’s stock.

First Majestic Silver Stock Up 5.4%

Shares of NYSE AG opened at $16.54 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $8.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.30 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 2.57, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. First Majestic Silver Corp. has a 12-month low of $8.03 and a 12-month high of $32.03. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.72.

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The mining company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $415.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $496.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.11 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 57.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that First Majestic Silver Corp. will post 0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Majestic Silver Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $0.0152 dividend. This represents a $0.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. First Majestic Silver’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AG shares. Scotiabank cut their price objective on First Majestic Silver from $23.00 to $22.50 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. ATB Cormark Capital Markets raised First Majestic Silver from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of First Majestic Silver from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of First Majestic Silver from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, HC Wainwright raised their price objective on shares of First Majestic Silver from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.83.

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.