First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $25.25.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of First Majestic Silver from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on shares of First Majestic Silver to $30.75 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of First Majestic Silver from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of First Majestic Silver to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of First Majestic Silver from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th.

First Majestic Silver Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE AG opened at $16.95 on Wednesday. First Majestic Silver has a 12 month low of $7.74 and a 12 month high of $32.03. The stock has a market cap of $8.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.26 and a beta of 0.86. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $19.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the prior year, the company posted $0.05 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 95.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that First Majestic Silver will post 0.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Majestic Silver Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Majestic Silver

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. VectorGlobal IAG Inc. purchased a new stake in First Majestic Silver during the 1st quarter valued at $494,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in First Majestic Silver by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 37,940 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $815,000 after buying an additional 4,704 shares during the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC raised its stake in First Majestic Silver by 66.6% during the 1st quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 185,720 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $3,983,000 after buying an additional 74,260 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in First Majestic Silver by 36.4% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 560 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in First Majestic Silver by 92.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,082,824 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $130,659,000 after buying an additional 2,919,008 shares during the last quarter. 27.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.