10:02 AM EDT, 05/15/2018 (MT Newswires) -- TD Securities analyst Daniel Earle upgraded First Majestic Silver (FR.TO) following its $320 million acquisition of Primero Mining (P.TO).

Moving the Vancouver-based company to buy from hold, Earle called the acquisition "transformative" for the company, seeing it to be accretive on several metrics and expecting it to add immediate production growth while lowering costs.

With the completion of the deal on May 10, First Majestic also announced a new precious metal purchase agreement with Wheaton Precious Metals International and FM Metal Trading (Barbados) Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary, relating to the San Dimas silver-gold mine in Mexico, acquired in the Primero deal.

Earle sees the potential to significantly enhance the acquisition's returns through optimization, growth and investment in San Dimas. He increased his target for First Majestic to $14 from $11. The average target on the Street is $11.33, according to Bloomberg data. FR shares were off 1% in early trading at $8.97.

Price: 8.97, Change: -0.11, Percent Change: -1.21