Pan American Silver (NYSE:PAAS) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Pan American Silver Corp. (NYSE:PAAS) (TSE:PAAS)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $63.29, but opened at $55.12. Pan American Silver shares last traded at $58.3230, with a volume of 3,320,603 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Pan American Silver from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Pan American Silver from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Pan American Silver from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Pan American Silver from $47.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Pan American Silver in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.83.

Pan American Silver Stock Down 13.9%

The company has a market cap of $22.98 billion, a PE ratio of 31.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.67. The company’s 50 day moving average is $52.24 and its 200 day moving average is $40.81. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Pan American Silver (NYSE:PAAS) (TSE:PAAS) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $854.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $867.76 million. Pan American Silver had a net margin of 19.52% and a return on equity of 11.66%. Pan American Silver’s quarterly revenue was up 19.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Pan American Silver Corp. will post 1.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pan American Silver Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 5th. Investors of record on Monday, November 24th were paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. This is an increase from Pan American Silver’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 24th. Pan American Silver’s payout ratio is currently 32.37%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pan American Silver

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Veracity Capital LLC lifted its stake in Pan American Silver by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 9,868 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $511,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Pan American Silver by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,507 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the period. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Pan American Silver by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 36,240 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,404,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pan American Silver by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 4,535 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $235,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in shares of Pan American Silver by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,373 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares during the period. 55.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.