First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $20.35, but opened at $18.25. First Majestic Silver shares last traded at $18.6320, with a volume of 10,446,588 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AG. Zacks Research upgraded shares of First Majestic Silver from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of First Majestic Silver from $12.50 to $23.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of First Majestic Silver in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of First Majestic Silver in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, HC Wainwright raised their price objective on First Majestic Silver to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.00.

First Majestic Silver Trading Down 3.6%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.96 and a current ratio of 3.38. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $24.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.13. The company has a market cap of $9.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.17 and a beta of 0.76.

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The mining company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $463.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $561.30 million. First Majestic Silver had a net margin of 13.12% and a return on equity of 7.41%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 169.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that First Majestic Silver Corp. will post 0.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Majestic Silver Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th were issued a $0.0083 dividend. This represents a $0.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. This is a positive change from First Majestic Silver’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. First Majestic Silver’s payout ratio is currently 8.57%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Majestic Silver

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AG. Wealthspire Retirement LLC raised its stake in First Majestic Silver by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Retirement LLC now owns 32,450 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $541,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of First Majestic Silver by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 24,656 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $411,000 after acquiring an additional 697 shares during the period. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Majestic Silver by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 24,999 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $416,000 after acquiring an additional 718 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Majestic Silver by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 35,295 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $434,000 after acquiring an additional 945 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its stake in First Majestic Silver by 33.2% in the 3rd quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 3,898 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 971 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.16% of the company’s stock.

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.