Van ECK Associates Corp Acquires 764,790 Shares of First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG)

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG - Free Report) TSE: FR by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,912,989 shares of the mining company's stock after buying an additional 764,790 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 9.96% of First Majestic Silver worth $173,478,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Majestic Silver by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,451,621 shares of the mining company's stock worth $61,456,000 after buying an additional 186,570 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in First Majestic Silver in the second quarter valued at $3,904,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in First Majestic Silver during the first quarter valued at about $1,373,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted 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 worth $18,701,000 after purchasing an additional 103,232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in First Majestic Silver by 145.4% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 424,917 shares of the mining company's stock worth $2,499,000 after purchasing an additional 251,741 shares during the last quarter. 27.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $8.50 price target on shares of First Majestic Silver in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Cormark upgraded shares of First Majestic Silver from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th.

First Majestic Silver Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of First Majestic Silver stock traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $7.18. 9,330,404 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,523,674. The company has a market cap of $2.17 billion, a PE ratio of -26.59 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $6.31 and a 200-day moving average of $6.36. First Majestic Silver Corp. has a 12 month low of $4.17 and a 12 month high of $8.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 2.44 and a current ratio of 3.05.

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) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.02) by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $136.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $129.74 million. First Majestic Silver had a negative return on equity of 4.39% and a negative net margin of 15.37%. First Majestic Silver's quarterly revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.02) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that First Majestic Silver Corp. will post -0.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Majestic Silver Profile

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.