First Majestic Silver Corp. $AG Stake Boosted by Alps Advisors Inc.

Alps Advisors Inc. increased its stake in First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) by 33.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 9,621,720 shares of the mining company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,418,513 shares during the period. First Majestic Silver accounts for approximately 0.9% of Alps Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Alps Advisors Inc.’s holdings in First Majestic Silver were worth $160,298,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AG. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in First Majestic Silver by 77.4% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 604,186 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $4,042,000 after purchasing an additional 263,688 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in First Majestic Silver by 355.7% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,193,589 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $7,985,000 after purchasing an additional 931,690 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in First Majestic Silver by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 240,083 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,994,000 after purchasing an additional 26,553 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its stake in First Majestic Silver by 25.3% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 28,837 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $238,000 after purchasing an additional 5,828 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in First Majestic Silver by 12.8% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 25,940 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $215,000 after purchasing an additional 2,936 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank raised First Majestic Silver to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings lowered First Majestic Silver from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on First Majestic Silver to $30.75 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Zacks Research lowered First Majestic Silver from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded First Majestic Silver from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.25.

First Majestic Silver Trading Up 7.5%

Shares of NYSE AG opened at $16.89 on Friday. First Majestic Silver Corp. has a one year low of $7.74 and a one year high of $32.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.34 billion, a PE ratio of 28.15 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $20.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.62.

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 12th. The mining company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $476.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $522.00 million. First Majestic Silver had a return on equity of 11.19% and a net margin of 19.51%.The company’s revenue was up 95.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.05 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that First Majestic Silver Corp. will post 0.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Majestic Silver Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were issued a dividend of $0.0171 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $0.07 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. This is a positive change from First Majestic Silver’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. First Majestic Silver’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.67%.

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.