Investors Buy High Volume of Call Options on Pan American Silver (NYSE:PAAS)

Pan American Silver Corp. (NYSE:PAAS) (TSE:PAAS) was the target of unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock traders acquired 35,322 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 68% compared to the typical volume of 21,022 call options.

Pan American Silver Trading Up 0.6%

PAAS stock traded up $0.38 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $64.88. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 13,210,186 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,802,998. Pan American Silver has a 1 year low of $20.55 and a 1 year high of $69.99. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.59, a PEG ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.31.

Pan American Silver (NYSE:PAAS) (TSE:PAAS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The basic materials company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.01). Pan American Silver had a net margin of 19.52% and a return on equity of 11.66%. The firm had revenue of $854.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $867.76 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Pan American Silver will post 1.26 EPS for the current year.

Pan American Silver Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 24th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. This is an increase from Pan American Silver’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 24th. Pan American Silver’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.37%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pan American Silver

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Pan American Silver by 151.8% in the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 642 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pan American Silver in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. City State Bank lifted its stake in Pan American Silver by 74.4% during the third quarter. City State Bank now owns 1,020 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Pan American Silver by 93.6% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,028 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Pan American Silver by 3,111.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,124 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Pan American Silver from $47.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Bank of America upped their price objective on Pan American Silver from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Pan American Silver in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Pan American Silver from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Pan American Silver from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.83.

About Pan American Silver

Pan American Silver Corp. (NYSE: PAAS) is a Vancouver-based mining company and one of the world’s largest primary silver producers. The company’s core activities encompass the exploration, development, extraction and processing of silver, with significant by-product production of gold, zinc and lead. Pan American Silver maintains a vertically integrated operating model, covering the full mining value chain from resource discovery through to refined metal production.

With a geographic footprint concentrated across the Americas, Pan American Silver operates multiple mines in Mexico, Peru, Argentina and Bolivia, and is advancing several development and exploration projects in Chile and Ecuador.