Stock Traders Buy High Volume of First Majestic Silver Call Options (NYSE:AG)

First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG - Get Free Report) TSE: FR saw some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Traders bought 38,034 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 143% compared to the typical daily volume of 15,621 call options.

Institutional Trading of First Majestic Silver

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in First Majestic Silver by 1.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,451,621 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $61,456,000 after buying an additional 186,570 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in shares of First Majestic Silver in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,904,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Majestic Silver during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,373,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in First Majestic Silver by 3.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,158,908 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $18,701,000 after acquiring an additional 103,232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Majestic Silver by 145.4% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 424,917 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $2,499,000 after acquiring an additional 251,741 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.16% of the company's stock.

First Majestic Silver Stock Performance

First Majestic Silver stock traded up $0.97 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $7.30. 19,189,841 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,085,793. The firm has a market cap of $2.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -42.31 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 3.05, a quick ratio of 2.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. First Majestic Silver has a 12 month low of $4.17 and a 12 month high of $8.44. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $5.85 and a 200 day moving average of $6.36.

First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG - Get Free Report) TSE: FR last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The mining company reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.02) by ($0.05). First Majestic Silver had a negative return on equity of 4.39% and a negative net margin of 15.37%. The business had revenue of $136.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $129.74 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.02) earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that First Majestic Silver will post -0.13 earnings per share for the current year.

First Majestic Silver Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $0.0046 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.25%. First Majestic Silver's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -6.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $8.50 price target on shares of First Majestic Silver in a report on Friday. Cormark upgraded First Majestic Silver from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th.

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.