First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) Trading Up 3% – Should You Buy?

Shares of First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) shot up 3% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $32.04 and last traded at $32.0240. 22,491,200 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 20% from the average session volume of 28,058,920 shares. The stock had previously closed at $31.10.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on AG. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First Majestic Silver from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of First Majestic Silver in a report on Friday, January 16th. Cormark raised First Majestic Silver from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on First Majestic Silver to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of First Majestic Silver in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.00.

First Majestic Silver Price Performance

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 stock has a market capitalization of $15.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.50 and a beta of 0.85. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.34.

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The mining company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $463.92 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $561.30 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.03 EPS. First Majestic Silver’s revenue for the quarter was up 169.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that First Majestic Silver Corp. will post 0.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Majestic Silver Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be paid a $0.0083 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. This is a positive change from First Majestic Silver’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. This represents a $0.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. First Majestic Silver’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.71%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Majestic Silver

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AG. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in First Majestic Silver by 408.1% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 15,041,912 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $250,821,000 after buying an additional 12,081,688 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake 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 worth $531,234,000 after acquiring an additional 10,471,543 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased 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 worth $112,880,000 after purchasing an additional 5,821,751 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in First Majestic Silver in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $55,071,000. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in First Majestic Silver by 108.7% in the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 7,203,207 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $88,527,000 after acquiring an additional 3,751,376 shares in the last quarter. 27.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.