First Majestic Silver Corp Stock Upgraded (AG)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) has been upgraded by TheStreet Ratings from sell to hold. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its notable return on equity, revenue growth and largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures. However, as a counter to these strengths, we find that the stock has had a generally disappointing performance in the past year.

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Highlights from the ratings report include:

• Compared to other companies in the Metals & Mining industry and the overall market, FIRST MAJESTIC SILVER CORP's return on equity significantly exceeds that of both the industry average and the S&P 500.
• AG's revenue growth has slightly outpaced the industry average of 1.7%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 4.6%. This growth in revenue appears to have trickled down to the company's bottom line, improving the earnings per share.
• AG's debt-to-equity ratio is very low at 0.04 and is currently below that of the industry average, implying that there has been very successful management of debt levels. Along with this, the company maintains a quick ratio of 3.60, which clearly demonstrates the ability to cover short-term cash needs.
• FIRST MAJESTIC SILVER CORP's earnings per share improvement from the most recent quarter was slightly positive. The company has demonstrated a pattern of positive earnings per share growth over the past year. During the past fiscal year, FIRST MAJESTIC SILVER CORP increased its bottom line by earning $0.98 versus $0.14 in the prior year.
• AG's stock share price has done very poorly compared to where it was a year ago: Despite any rallies, the net result is that it is down by 40.54%, which is also worse that the performance of the S&P 500 Index. Investors have so far failed to pay much attention to the earnings improvements the company has managed to achieve over the last quarter. Although its share price is down sharply from a year ago, do not assume that it can now be tagged as cheap and attractive. The reality is that, based on its current price in relation to its earnings, AG is still more expensive than most of the other companies in its industry.

First Majestic Silver Corp. engages in the acquisition, development, and exploration of mineral properties with a focus on silver projects in Mexico. The company has a P/E ratio of 15, above the average metals & mining industry P/E ratio of 14.9 and below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. First Majestic has a market cap of $1.54 billion and is part of the basic materials sector and metals & mining industry. Shares are down 13.5% year to date as of the close of trading on Thursday.

You can view the full First Majestic Ratings Report or get investment ideas from our investment research center.

-- Written by a member of TheStreet Ratings Staff

TheStreet ratings do not represent the views of TheStreet's staff or its contributors. Ratings are established by computer based on metrics for performance (which includes growth, stock performance, efficiency and valuation) and risk (volatility and solvency). Companies with poor cash flow or high debt levels tend to earn lower ratings in our model.

For more information on First Majestic Silver Corp click any of the following:

• First Majestic Silver Corp Stock Price

• First Majestic Silver Corp Analyst Ratings

• First Majestic Silver Corp Key Stats & Profile

• First Majestic Silver Corp Earnings

• First Majestic Silver Corp Ratio Comparison

• First Majestic Silver Corp Growth Rates

• First Majestic Silver Corp Balance Sheet

• First Majestic Silver Corp Cash Flow

• First Majestic Silver Corp Income Statement