First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $6.96, but opened at $7.21. First Majestic Silver shares last traded at $7.07, with a volume of 2,276,956 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $11.00 price objective on shares of First Majestic Silver in a research note on Friday, February 21st. TD Securities raised First Majestic Silver to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com upgraded First Majestic Silver from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of First Majestic Silver from $6.50 to $6.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $8.50.

First Majestic Silver Trading Down 1.7 %

The firm has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.36 and a beta of 1.16. The business’s 50 day moving average is $5.92 and its 200-day moving average is $6.15. The company has a quick ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The mining company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.02). First Majestic Silver had a negative net margin of 18.17% and a negative return on equity of 3.07%. The firm had revenue of $172.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $227.77 million. As a group, analysts forecast 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.0057 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This is a boost from First Majestic Silver’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. First Majestic Silver’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -5.71%.

Institutional Trading of First Majestic Silver

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in shares of First Majestic Silver by 135.2% during the 4th quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 13,596,866 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $74,647,000 after buying an additional 7,816,177 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Majestic Silver by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,423,691 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $62,784,000 after purchasing an additional 598,996 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its position in First Majestic Silver by 46.8% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 4,455,923 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $24,463,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420,937 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in First Majestic Silver by 897.8% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,759,181 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $20,638,000 after buying an additional 3,382,443 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in First Majestic Silver by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,472,159 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $19,060,000 after buying an additional 121,892 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.