First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $28.97 and last traded at $29.4220, with a volume of 7218671 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $27.55.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on AG. Wall Street Zen raised First Majestic Silver from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on shares of First Majestic Silver to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of First Majestic Silver in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Cormark upgraded shares of First Majestic Silver from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Zacks Research raised First Majestic Silver from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.00.

First Majestic Silver Price Performance

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.13. The company has a market capitalization of $14.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.48 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 3.38, a quick ratio of 2.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The mining company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.03. First Majestic Silver had a net margin of 13.12% and a return on equity of 7.41%. The business had revenue of $463.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $561.30 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 169.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that First Majestic Silver Corp. will post 0.54 EPS for the current year.

First Majestic Silver Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.0083 per share. This is a boost from First Majestic Silver’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $0.03 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. First Majestic Silver’s payout ratio is 5.71%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in shares of First Majestic Silver in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $55,071,000. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych Allianz Polska S.A. lifted its stake in First Majestic Silver by 120.8% during the third quarter. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych Allianz Polska S.A. now owns 93,600 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,150,000 after purchasing an additional 51,200 shares during the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC boosted its holdings in First Majestic Silver by 1,216.2% during the second quarter. FORA Capital LLC now owns 340,695 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $2,818,000 after buying an additional 314,811 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Majestic Silver by 108.7% in 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, Caprock Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Majestic Silver during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,045,000. 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.