First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) Sets New 1-Year High - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• First Majestic Silver hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as $16.57 (last $16.4590) on heavy volume, and the stock is currently rated a Moderate Buy by analysts with a consensus target price of $17.33.
• The company missed quarterly EPS and revenue (EPS $0.07 vs $0.11 est.; revenue $285.1M vs $429.8M est.) despite revenue rising 95.3% year-over-year, and it recently initiated a small quarterly dividend of $0.0052 (annualized $0.02, ~0.1% yield).

First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG - Get Free Report) TSE: FR's stock price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $16.57 and last traded at $16.4590, with a volume of 9462984 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $15.69.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. National Bankshares set a $22.00 target price on First Majestic Silver and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of First Majestic Silver from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, November 16th. Cormark upgraded shares of First Majestic Silver from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. HC Wainwright set a $17.50 price target on shares of First Majestic Silver in a report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of First Majestic Silver in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $17.33.

First Majestic Silver Stock Up 5.8%

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's fifty day simple moving average is $13.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 118.50 and a beta of 0.84.

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG - Get Free Report) TSE: FR last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The mining company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $285.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $429.78 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.09) EPS. The firm's revenue was up 95.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that First Majestic Silver Corp. will post 0.54 earnings per share for the current year.

First Majestic Silver Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of First Majestic Silver

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AG. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of First Majestic Silver by 32.0% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 43,225,807 shares of the mining company's stock worth $531,234,000 after buying an additional 10,471,543 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in First Majestic Silver by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,014,859 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $258,273,000 after acquiring an additional 2,581,023 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in First Majestic Silver by 38.5% during the 3rd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 18,932,368 shares of the mining company's stock worth $232,539,000 after acquiring an additional 5,265,612 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of First Majestic Silver by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,050,155 shares of the mining company's stock worth $221,657,000 after acquiring an additional 739,315 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lingotto Investment Management LLP grew its stake in shares of First Majestic Silver by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Lingotto Investment Management LLP now owns 9,964,096 shares of the mining company's stock worth $82,403,000 after acquiring an additional 213,577 shares in the last quarter. 27.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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