First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) Raised to Outperform at BMO Capital Markets

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) was upgraded by investment analysts at BMO Capital Markets from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on AG. HC Wainwright raised their price target on First Majestic Silver to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded First Majestic Silver from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. Zacks Research raised 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 stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of First Majestic Silver in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, First Majestic Silver presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $25.00.

First Majestic Silver Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AG opened at $20.79 on Tuesday. First Majestic Silver has a 12 month low of $5.18 and a 12 month high of $32.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.40 and a beta of 0.76. 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 fifty day moving average price is $24.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.41.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sprott Inc. boosted its stake in shares of First Majestic Silver by 51.8% in the third quarter. Sprott Inc. now owns 2,036,679 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $24,974,000 after buying an additional 695,391 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in First Majestic Silver in the third quarter worth $55,071,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in First Majestic Silver by 4.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,050,155 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $221,657,000 after acquiring an additional 739,315 shares during the period. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych Allianz Polska S.A. lifted its holdings in First Majestic Silver by 120.8% in the third quarter. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych Allianz Polska S.A. now owns 93,600 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,150,000 after acquiring an additional 51,200 shares during the period. Finally, FORA Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $2,818,000 after purchasing an additional 314,811 shares in the last quarter. 27.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.