First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $20.60 and last traded at $20.4530, with a volume of 6437522 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $18.91.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Cormark upgraded First Majestic Silver from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. National Bankshares set a $22.00 target price on shares of First Majestic Silver and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of First Majestic Silver in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of First Majestic Silver from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 16th. Finally, TD Securities raised shares of First Majestic Silver from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.33.

First Majestic Silver Stock Up 8.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 3.38 and a quick ratio of 2.96. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.82. The firm has a market cap of $10.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 145.14 and a beta of 0.77.

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The mining company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.11 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $285.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $429.78 million. First Majestic Silver had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 3.14%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 95.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.09) earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that First Majestic Silver Corp. will post 0.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Majestic Silver Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th were paid a $0.0052 dividend. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. This is a positive change from First Majestic Silver’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. First Majestic Silver’s dividend payout ratio is 14.29%.

Institutional Trading of First Majestic Silver

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital Management Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of First Majestic Silver in the second quarter valued at $333,000. FORA Capital LLC grew its holdings in First Majestic Silver by 1,216.2% during the 2nd quarter. FORA Capital LLC now owns 340,695 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $2,818,000 after purchasing an additional 314,811 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in First Majestic Silver by 157.9% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,420,322 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $11,762,000 after purchasing an additional 869,697 shares during the period. DJE Kapital AG purchased a new stake in First Majestic Silver in the 2nd quarter worth about $5,615,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in First Majestic Silver by 74.2% in the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 13,666,756 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $112,880,000 after purchasing an additional 5,821,751 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.16% of the company’s stock.

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.