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

First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock traders bought 76,454 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 284% compared to the average volume of 19,911 call options.

Institutional Trading of First Majestic Silver

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of First Majestic Silver by 1,221.6% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,793 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 3,506 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in First Majestic Silver by 805.4% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 5,161 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 4,591 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new position in First Majestic Silver during the first quarter worth about $46,000. Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. bought a new position in First Majestic Silver in the 4th quarter worth about $55,000. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of First Majestic Silver in the 1st quarter valued at about $67,000. Institutional investors own 27.16% of the company’s stock.

First Majestic Silver Stock Up 7.1 %

First Majestic Silver stock opened at $5.90 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $6.13. 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 has a 1-year low of $4.43 and a 1-year high of $8.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.86 and a beta of 0.81.

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The mining company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.06 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $241.12 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $358.65 million. First Majestic Silver had a negative net margin of 18.17% and a negative return on equity of 3.07%. First Majestic Silver’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.05) earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that First Majestic Silver will post 0.54 earnings per share for the current year.

First Majestic Silver Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.0057 dividend. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. This is an increase from First Majestic Silver’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. First Majestic Silver’s dividend payout ratio is presently -5.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AG has been the subject of several research reports. HC Wainwright increased their price target on shares of First Majestic Silver from $11.00 to $11.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. TD Securities raised shares of First Majestic Silver to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. National Bankshares reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of First Majestic Silver in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $6.00 target price on shares of First Majestic Silver in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised First Majestic Silver from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. 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 currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $8.75.

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.