First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $8.27, but opened at $8.49. First Majestic Silver shares last traded at $8.38, with a volume of 2,570,615 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. HC Wainwright lifted their price target on shares of First Majestic Silver from $11.00 to $11.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. National Bank Financial raised First Majestic Silver to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Wall Street Zen raised First Majestic Silver from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. National Bankshares reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of First Majestic Silver in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $6.00 price objective on shares of First Majestic Silver in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Majestic Silver presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $8.75.

First Majestic Silver Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $4.04 billion, a PE ratio of -28.77 and a beta of 0.74. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $6.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $6.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a current ratio of 3.19.

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The mining company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $241.12 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $358.65 million. First Majestic Silver had a negative return on equity of 0.14% and a negative net margin of 12.32%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 41.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.05) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that First Majestic Silver Corp. will post 0.54 EPS for the current year.

First Majestic Silver Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.0045 per share. This represents a yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. First Majestic Silver’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -6.90%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Majestic Silver

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AG. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Majestic Silver by 26.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,475,305 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $96,768,000 after purchasing an additional 3,051,614 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Majestic Silver by 135.2% in the 4th quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 13,596,866 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $74,647,000 after acquiring an additional 7,816,177 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of First Majestic Silver by 11.7% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 7,845,005 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $52,436,000 after acquiring an additional 820,664 shares in the last quarter. Municipal Employees Retirement System of Michigan purchased a new position in First Majestic Silver during the first quarter worth about $47,656,000. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in First Majestic Silver during the first quarter worth about $46,070,000. 27.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About First Majestic Silver

First Majestic Silver Corp. engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of mineral properties with a focus on silver and gold production in North America. Its projects include the San Dimas mine covering an area of approximately 71,867 hectares located in Durango State, Mexico; the Santa Elena that covers an area of approximately 102,244 hectares located in Sonora State, México; and the La Encantada covering an area of approximately 4,076 hectares located in Coahuila State, México.