First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) Shares Up 6.1% After Dividend Announcement

First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR)’s share price shot up 6.1% on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as $5.79 and last traded at $5.70. 5,855,152 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 17,622,150 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.37.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.0057 dividend. This is a boost from First Majestic Silver’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. First Majestic Silver’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -5.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on AG. StockNews.com raised First Majestic Silver from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Scotiabank decreased their target price on First Majestic Silver from $6.50 to $6.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $11.00 target price on shares of First Majestic Silver in a report on Friday.

First Majestic Silver Trading Down 3.7 %

The company has a quick ratio of 2.45, a current ratio of 3.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $6.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.84 and a beta of 1.24.

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) (TSE:FR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The mining company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $172.34 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $227.77 million. First Majestic Silver had a negative net margin of 18.17% and a negative return on equity of 3.06%. As a group, research analysts forecast that First Majestic Silver Corp. will post 0.54 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Majestic Silver

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of First Majestic Silver by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 155,262 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $852,000 after purchasing an additional 11,649 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its holdings in shares of First Majestic Silver by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 88,896 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $488,000 after purchasing an additional 5,099 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its holdings in shares of First Majestic Silver by 90.6% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 118,715 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $652,000 after purchasing an additional 56,415 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its position in shares of First Majestic Silver by 46.8% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 4,455,923 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $24,463,000 after buying an additional 1,420,937 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of First Majestic Silver by 135.2% during the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 13,596,866 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $74,647,000 after buying an additional 7,816,177 shares during the period. 27.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.