First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) Given New $8.50 Price Target at HC Wainwright

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) had its price target raised by HC Wainwright from $7.00 to $8.50 in a report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the mining company’s stock.

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of First Majestic Silver to a sell rating in a report on Monday, February 26th.

First Majestic Silver Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AG opened at $6.74 on Friday. First Majestic Silver has a twelve month low of $4.17 and a twelve month high of $8.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.57 and a quick ratio of 2.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $5.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.50.

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The mining company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.01. First Majestic Silver had a negative net margin of 23.55% and a negative return on equity of 1.85%. The company had revenue of $136.95 million during the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.07) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that First Majestic Silver will post -0.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Majestic Silver Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.0048 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This is a positive change from First Majestic Silver’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.28%. First Majestic Silver’s dividend payout ratio is currently -4.17%.

Institutional Trading of First Majestic Silver

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Majestic Silver by 105,048.6% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 47,055,036 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $392,439,000 after purchasing an additional 47,010,285 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Majestic Silver by 449.3% in the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 1,537,675 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $9,457,000 after purchasing an additional 1,257,734 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Majestic Silver in the 2nd quarter valued at about $9,005,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Majestic Silver by 231.9% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,614,262 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $9,928,000 after purchasing an additional 1,127,952 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of First Majestic Silver by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 29,631,966 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $152,012,000 after purchasing an additional 1,079,150 shares during the period. 27.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.