Traders Buy Large Volume of First Majestic Silver Call Options (NYSE:AG)

First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors purchased 102,811 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 43% compared to the average volume of 72,033 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on AG. HC Wainwright raised their price target on First Majestic Silver from $17.50 to $24.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of First Majestic Silver from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 16th. Cormark raised shares of First Majestic Silver from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of First Majestic Silver in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, National Bank Financial upgraded First Majestic Silver from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, October 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Majestic Silver currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.67.

First Majestic Silver Stock Up 5.8%

First Majestic Silver stock opened at $21.51 on Friday. First Majestic Silver has a 12-month low of $5.09 and a 12-month high of $21.54. The company has a market capitalization of $10.57 billion, a PE ratio of 153.64 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $15.67 and its 200 day moving average is $12.22. The company has a quick ratio of 2.96, a current ratio of 3.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The mining company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $285.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $429.78 million. First Majestic Silver had a return on equity of 3.14% and a net margin of 7.07%.First Majestic Silver’s revenue for the quarter was up 95.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.09) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that First Majestic Silver 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 is a positive change from First Majestic Silver’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 14th. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. First Majestic Silver’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.29%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Majestic Silver

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of First Majestic Silver by 32.0% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 43,225,807 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $531,234,000 after purchasing an additional 10,471,543 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of First Majestic Silver by 74.2% during the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 13,666,756 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $112,880,000 after acquiring an additional 5,821,751 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in shares of First Majestic Silver in the third quarter worth $55,071,000. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its position in First Majestic Silver by 108.7% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 7,203,207 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $88,527,000 after buying an additional 3,751,376 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of First Majestic Silver during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,795,000. 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.