Van ECK Associates Corp Purchases 709,879 Shares of First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG)

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,341,845 shares of the mining company’s stock after buying an additional 709,879 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 10.57% of First Majestic Silver worth $186,600,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AG. CWM LLC lifted its position in First Majestic Silver by 59.7% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,433 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 2,030 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of First Majestic Silver in the third quarter worth approximately $398,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of First Majestic Silver by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 39,831 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $204,000 after buying an additional 9,675 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in First Majestic Silver during the third quarter worth about $77,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in First Majestic Silver by 12.7% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 442,418 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $2,270,000 after buying an additional 49,853 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on AG. StockNews.com upgraded First Majestic Silver to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on shares of First Majestic Silver from $7.00 to $8.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th.

First Majestic Silver Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AG traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $6.73. 3,165,407 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,702,967. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.57 and a quick ratio of 2.04. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $5.99 and a 200 day moving average of $5.58. First Majestic Silver Corp. has a 1 year low of $4.17 and a 1 year high of $8.44.

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The mining company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.01. First Majestic Silver had a negative net margin of 23.55% and a negative return on equity of 1.85%. The business had revenue of $136.95 million during the quarter. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.07) earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that First Majestic Silver Corp. will post -0.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Majestic Silver Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.0048 per share. This is a boost from First Majestic Silver’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. First Majestic Silver’s payout ratio is -4.17%.

First Majestic Silver Company Profile

First Majestic Silver Corp. engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of mineral properties with a focus on silver and gold production in North America. Its projects include the San Dimas mine covering an area of approximately 71,867 hectares located in Durango State, Mexico; the Santa Elena that covers an area of approximately 102,244 hectares located in Sonora State, México; and the La Encantada covering an area of approximately 4,076 hectares located in Coahuila State, México.