A-Mark Precious Metals (NASDAQ:AMRK) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of A-Mark Precious Metals (NASDAQ:AMRK) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Thursday morning.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on AMRK. B. Riley reduced their target price on shares of A-Mark Precious Metals from $41.00 to $33.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of A-Mark Precious Metals from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th.

A-Mark Precious Metals Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of AMRK opened at $37.98 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $867.84 million, a PE ratio of 8.42 and a beta of 0.02. A-Mark Precious Metals has a 1 year low of $23.14 and a 1 year high of $42.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 1.86. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.92.

A-Mark Precious Metals (NASDAQ:AMRK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.23 by ($0.33). The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.25 billion. A-Mark Precious Metals had a net margin of 1.10% and a return on equity of 26.90%. Analysts forecast that A-Mark Precious Metals will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A-Mark Precious Metals Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 15th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. A-Mark Precious Metals’s payout ratio is currently 17.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other A-Mark Precious Metals news, Director Michael R. Wittmeyer sold 22,558 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.29, for a total transaction of $593,049.82. Following the sale, the director now owns 408,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,732,235.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other A-Mark Precious Metals news, Director Jess M. Ravich bought 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $25.63 per share, for a total transaction of $512,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 143,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,682,210.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael R. Wittmeyer sold 22,558 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.29, for a total transaction of $593,049.82. Following the transaction, the director now owns 408,225 shares in the company, valued at $10,732,235.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 53,637 shares of company stock valued at $1,396,360. 23.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On A-Mark Precious Metals

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AMRK. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of A-Mark Precious Metals by 2.1% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 54,841 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,242,000 after acquiring an additional 1,148 shares during the last quarter. Group One Trading L.P. purchased a new position in shares of A-Mark Precious Metals during the first quarter worth approximately $621,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of A-Mark Precious Metals by 58.5% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 5,273 shares of the company’s stock worth $408,000 after acquiring an additional 1,946 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in A-Mark Precious Metals by 14.9% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 11,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $896,000 after buying an additional 1,505 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in A-Mark Precious Metals by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 320,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,824,000 after buying an additional 22,632 shares during the last quarter. 75.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About A-Mark Precious Metals

A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a precious metals trading company. It operates through three segments: Wholesale Sales & Ancillary Services, Direct-to-Consumer, and Secured Lending. The Wholesale Sales & Ancillary Services segment sells gold, silver, platinum, and palladium in the form of bars, plates, powders, wafers, grains, ingots, and coins.