Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG)

First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) saw unusually large options trading on Friday. Investors acquired 131,644 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 70% compared to the typical daily volume of 77,249 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. HC Wainwright upped their target price on First Majestic Silver from $17.50 to $24.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of First Majestic Silver in a report on Friday, January 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of First Majestic Silver in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of First Majestic Silver from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 16th. Finally, TD Securities raised shares of First Majestic Silver from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, First Majestic Silver has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.17.

First Majestic Silver Price Performance

First Majestic Silver stock opened at $20.82 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 148.71 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $18.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.96 and a current ratio of 3.38. First Majestic Silver has a 1 year low of $5.09 and a 1 year high of $27.90.

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) last posted 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 net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 3.14%. The company had revenue of $285.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $429.78 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.09) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 95.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th were issued a $0.0052 dividend. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 14th. This is a positive change from First Majestic Silver’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. First Majestic Silver’s payout ratio is presently 14.29%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Majestic Silver

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of First Majestic Silver by 32.0% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 43,225,807 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $531,234,000 after acquiring an additional 10,471,543 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of First Majestic Silver by 14.0% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,014,859 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $258,273,000 after purchasing an additional 2,581,023 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in First Majestic Silver by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,995,222 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $316,914,000 after purchasing an additional 945,067 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in First Majestic Silver by 38.5% in the 3rd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 18,932,368 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $232,539,000 after purchasing an additional 5,265,612 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lingotto Investment Management LLP boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 213,577 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.