First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $25.25.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AG shares. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of First Majestic Silver from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Zacks Research downgraded First Majestic Silver from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Weiss Ratings cut First Majestic Silver from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered First Majestic Silver from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, HC Wainwright upped their price target on First Majestic Silver to $30.75 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Majestic Silver

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Majestic Silver during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. EFG International AG purchased a new position in First Majestic Silver during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new position in First Majestic Silver during the first quarter valued at $32,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in First Majestic Silver by 184.5% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,508 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 978 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of First Majestic Silver in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. 27.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Majestic Silver Price Performance

AG opened at $16.95 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.54 and a current ratio of 2.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.36 billion, a PE ratio of 28.26 and a beta of 0.86. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $19.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.89. First Majestic Silver has a 52-week low of $7.74 and a 52-week high of $32.03.

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 12th. The mining company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $476.67 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $522.00 million. First Majestic Silver had a net margin of 19.51% and a return on equity of 11.19%. The business’s revenue was up 95.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.05 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that First Majestic Silver will post 0.74 EPS for the current year.

First Majestic Silver Increases Dividend

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

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.