First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) Reaches New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $18.08 and last traded at $17.69, with a volume of 9491082 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $16.06.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on AG. HC Wainwright set a $17.50 price target on shares of First Majestic Silver in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Scotiabank upped their target price on First Majestic Silver from $9.00 to $12.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of First Majestic Silver in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Cormark upgraded First Majestic Silver from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of First Majestic Silver from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.33.

First Majestic Silver Stock Up 7.8%

The firm’s fifty day moving average is $14.24 and its 200 day moving average is $11.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.96 and a current ratio of 3.38. The firm has a market cap of $8.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 125.14 and a beta of 0.77.

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The mining company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.11 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $285.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $429.78 million. First Majestic Silver had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 3.14%. First Majestic Silver’s revenue for the quarter was up 95.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.09) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that First Majestic Silver Corp. will post 0.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Majestic Silver Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.0052 per share. This is an increase from First Majestic Silver’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. First Majestic Silver’s payout ratio is 14.29%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Majestic Silver

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in First Majestic Silver by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 461,384 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $3,087,000 after purchasing an additional 16,513 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of First Majestic Silver during the first quarter worth approximately $82,000. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of First Majestic Silver by 77.4% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 604,186 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $4,042,000 after buying an additional 263,688 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of First Majestic Silver by 1.0% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 1,479,022 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $9,525,000 after buying an additional 14,163 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd boosted its stake in shares of First Majestic Silver by 66.4% in the first quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 100,855 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $675,000 after buying an additional 40,228 shares during the period. 27.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

First Majestic Silver Company 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.