Legal & General Group Plc Sells 458,814 Shares of First Majestic Silver Corp. $AG

Legal & General Group Plc cut its position in shares of First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) by 51.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 431,594 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 458,814 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in First Majestic Silver were worth $7,210,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its position in First Majestic Silver by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 35,295 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $434,000 after purchasing an additional 945 shares in the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Majestic Silver by 52.2% in the 4th quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 3,500 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Choreo LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Majestic Silver by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 72,628 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 1,216 shares during the period. Mariner LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Majestic Silver by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 51,588 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $634,000 after acquiring an additional 1,366 shares during the period. Finally, Lodestone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Majestic Silver in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. 27.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

First Majestic Silver Stock Down 14.1%

Shares of AG stock opened at $16.98 on Friday. First Majestic Silver Corp. has a 1-year low of $7.74 and a 1-year high of $32.03. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $20.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.54. The company has a market cap of $8.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.29 and a beta of 0.86.

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $476.67 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $522.00 million. First Majestic Silver had a return on equity of 11.19% and a net margin of 19.51%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 95.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.05 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that First Majestic Silver Corp. will post 0.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Majestic Silver Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $0.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. This is a boost from First Majestic Silver’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. First Majestic Silver’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AG. Zacks Research downgraded First Majestic Silver from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. HC Wainwright lifted their price target on First Majestic Silver to $30.75 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Scotiabank upgraded First Majestic Silver to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded First Majestic Silver from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded First Majestic Silver from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First Majestic Silver presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.25.

First Majestic Silver 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.