First Majestic Silver Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:AG)

First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) saw some unusual options trading on Monday. Traders purchased 28,181 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 52% compared to the typical daily volume of 18,510 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AG. National Bankshares reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of First Majestic Silver in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $11.00 target price on shares of First Majestic Silver in a research note on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com raised First Majestic Silver from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $6.00 price objective on shares of First Majestic Silver in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, TD Securities upgraded First Majestic Silver to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $8.50.

First Majestic Silver Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AG traded up $0.36 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $6.65. The stock had a trading volume of 23,052,844 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,652,829. The company has a market capitalization of $3.22 billion, a PE ratio of -19.00 and a beta of 0.97. First Majestic Silver has a 1 year low of $4.43 and a 1 year high of $8.09. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $6.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $6.17. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The mining company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $172.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $227.77 million. First Majestic Silver had a negative return on equity of 3.07% and a negative net margin of 18.17%. As a group, equities analysts predict that First Majestic Silver 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, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.0057 dividend. 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%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. First Majestic Silver’s payout ratio is presently -5.71%.

Institutional Trading of First Majestic Silver

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in First Majestic Silver by 14.2% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 131,877 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $793,000 after acquiring an additional 16,424 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of First Majestic Silver in the 3rd quarter valued at about $70,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in shares of First Majestic Silver in the 3rd quarter valued at about $504,000. Barclays PLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Majestic Silver during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,419,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in First Majestic Silver by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 136,901 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $825,000 after purchasing an additional 12,171 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.16% of the company’s stock.

About First Majestic Silver

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.