Spark Investment Management LLC Takes Position in Pan American Silver Corp. $PAAS

Spark Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Pan American Silver Corp. (NYSE:PAAS) (TSE:PAAS) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 13,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $582,000. Pan American Silver accounts for approximately 1.1% of Spark Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PAAS. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Pan American Silver during the second quarter valued at $375,948,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Pan American Silver in the fourth quarter worth about $303,611,000. FIL Ltd lifted its position in shares of Pan American Silver by 154.7% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 7,307,777 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $378,872,000 after buying an additional 4,438,478 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors bought a new position in Pan American Silver during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $215,484,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in shares of Pan American Silver in the second quarter valued at $145,312,000. Institutional investors own 55.43% of the company’s stock.

Pan American Silver Trading Down 0.5%

Pan American Silver stock traded down $0.27 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $51.07. 3,193,277 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,217,932. The company has a current ratio of 2.94, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.39. Pan American Silver Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $33.08 and a fifty-two week high of $69.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.43, a PEG ratio of 5.05 and a beta of 0.77.

Pan American Silver (NYSE:PAAS) (TSE:PAAS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The basic materials company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.84 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.16 billion. Pan American Silver had a net margin of 32.04% and a return on equity of 20.01%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 38.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.43 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Pan American Silver Corp. will post 3.81 EPS for the current year.

Pan American Silver Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 24th were paid a $0.184 dividend. This is a boost from Pan American Silver’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 24th. This represents a $0.74 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Pan American Silver’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on PAAS. TD Securities upgraded Pan American Silver from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $72.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 11th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Pan American Silver in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Pan American Silver in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Pan American Silver from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Pan American Silver from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $67.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.43.

Pan American Silver Company Profile

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.