Pan American Silver Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:PAAS)

Pan American Silver Corp. (NYSE:PAAS) (TSE:PAAS) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors bought 45,129 call options on the company. This is an increase of 194% compared to the average volume of 15,339 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Pan American Silver from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Pan American Silver in a research note on Monday. National Bankshares reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Pan American Silver in a research note on Friday, September 5th. National Bank Financial upgraded Pan American Silver to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on Pan American Silver from $36.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.25.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pan American Silver

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in Pan American Silver during the 3rd quarter worth about $113,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Pan American Silver by 108.2% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 25,241 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $978,000 after buying an additional 13,116 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC grew its holdings in Pan American Silver by 53.3% during the 3rd quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 11,931 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $462,000 after buying an additional 4,148 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Pan American Silver by 221.7% during the third quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 9,812 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $380,000 after buying an additional 6,762 shares during the period. Finally, Parvin Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Pan American Silver by 1.6% in the third quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC now owns 34,309 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,329,000 after buying an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. 55.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pan American Silver Stock Performance

Shares of PAAS stock opened at $42.57 on Thursday. Pan American Silver has a one year low of $19.80 and a one year high of $42.60. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $37.61 and a 200-day moving average of $32.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 3.05 and a quick ratio of 2.11. The company has a market cap of $17.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.63.

Pan American Silver (NYSE:PAAS) (TSE:PAAS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The basic materials company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.01). Pan American Silver had a net margin of 16.80% and a return on equity of 11.49%. The business had revenue of $854.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $867.76 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.32 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Pan American Silver will post 1.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pan American Silver Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 24th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This is an increase from Pan American Silver’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 24th. Pan American Silver’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.37%.

About Pan American Silver

Pan American Silver Corp. engages in the exploration, mine development, extraction, processing, refining, and reclamation of silver, gold, zinc, lead, and copper mines in Canada, Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, and Brazil. The company was formerly known as Pan American Minerals Corp. and changed its name to Pan American Silver Corp.