Cormark Upgrades First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) to Moderate Buy

Cormark upgraded shares of First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) from a hold rating to a moderate buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on AG. HC Wainwright restated a buy rating and set a $8.50 price objective on shares of First Majestic Silver in a research note on Friday. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on First Majestic Silver from $5.50 to $6.50 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $7.50.

First Majestic Silver Trading Down 4.9 %

Shares of First Majestic Silver stock opened at $4.63 on Friday. First Majestic Silver has a 12-month low of $4.17 and a 12-month high of $8.44. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $5.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $6.16. The company has a current ratio of 3.05, a quick ratio of 2.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.94 and a beta of 1.32.

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The mining company reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $136.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $129.74 million. First Majestic Silver had a negative return on equity of 4.39% and a negative net margin of 15.37%. The business’s revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.02) EPS. Analysts predict that First Majestic Silver will post -0.11 EPS for the current year.

First Majestic Silver Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $0.0046 per share. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. First Majestic Silver’s payout ratio is currently -6.25%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Majestic Silver

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AG. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of First Majestic Silver by 6,929.4% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 5,174,889 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $30,406,000 after purchasing an additional 5,101,271 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of First Majestic Silver by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 31,876,555 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $187,433,000 after purchasing an additional 1,534,710 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in First Majestic Silver in the second quarter valued at about $3,904,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in First Majestic Silver by 145.4% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 424,917 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $2,499,000 after buying an additional 251,741 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Majestic Silver in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,373,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.16% of the company’s stock.

First Majestic Silver Company Profile

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.