First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $20.40, but opened at $22.19. First Majestic Silver shares last traded at $21.6770, with a volume of 3,805,518 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of First Majestic Silver in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded First Majestic Silver from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 16th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of First Majestic Silver in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of First Majestic Silver from $12.50 to $23.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, TD Securities raised First Majestic Silver from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.17.

First Majestic Silver Trading Up 6.5%

The stock has a market capitalization of $10.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 154.85 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s 50-day moving average is $18.27 and its 200-day moving average is $13.40. The company has a quick ratio of 2.96, a current ratio of 3.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AG. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of First Majestic Silver by 32.0% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 43,225,807 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $531,234,000 after purchasing an additional 10,471,543 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of First Majestic Silver by 74.2% in the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 13,666,756 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $112,880,000 after acquiring an additional 5,821,751 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in shares of First Majestic Silver in the 3rd quarter worth about $55,071,000. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its position in First Majestic Silver by 108.7% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 7,203,207 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $88,527,000 after buying an additional 3,751,376 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP acquired a new stake in First Majestic Silver in the 4th quarter valued at $45,898,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.16% of the company’s stock.

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.