First Majestic Silver Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:AG)

First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG - Get Free Report) TSE: FR was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Friday. Investors acquired 28,073 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 75% compared to the average daily volume of 16,065 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Majestic Silver

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in First Majestic Silver by 105,048.6% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 47,055,036 shares of the mining company's stock worth $392,439,000 after purchasing an additional 47,010,285 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC grew its stake in First Majestic Silver by 449.3% in the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 1,537,675 shares of the mining company's stock worth $9,457,000 after purchasing an additional 1,257,734 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in First Majestic Silver in the second quarter worth $9,005,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in First Majestic Silver by 231.9% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,614,262 shares of the mining company's stock worth $9,928,000 after purchasing an additional 1,127,952 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in First Majestic Silver by 3.8% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 29,631,966 shares of the mining company's stock worth $152,012,000 after purchasing an additional 1,079,150 shares during the period. 27.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on AG shares. HC Wainwright lowered their price objective on First Majestic Silver from $12.00 to $6.75 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 19th. StockNews.com upgraded First Majestic Silver to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th.

First Majestic Silver Trading Down 5.4 %

Shares of AG traded down $0.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $7.53. 21,890,278 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,663,419. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. First Majestic Silver has a 1 year low of $4.17 and a 1 year high of $8.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.16 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.54 and a beta of 1.43. The business's 50-day moving average price is $5.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.41.

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG - Get Free Report) TSE: FR last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The mining company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.01. First Majestic Silver had a negative return on equity of 1.85% and a negative net margin of 23.55%. The firm had revenue of $136.95 million for the quarter. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.07) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that First Majestic Silver will post -0.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Majestic Silver Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.0048 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This is a boost from First Majestic Silver's previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.25%. First Majestic Silver's payout ratio is -4.17%.

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.