Pan American Silver Corp. (NYSE:PAAS) Short Interest Up 43.1% in March

Pan American Silver Corp. (NYSE:PAAS) (TSE:PAAS) was the target of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,940,000 shares, a growth of 43.1% from the February 28th total of 5,550,000 shares. Approximately 2.5% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 3,050,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Pan American Silver Stock Performance

PAAS stock traded down $0.49 on Friday, hitting $25.95. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,038,379 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,867,526. Pan American Silver has a 1 year low of $15.10 and a 1 year high of $27.47. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $9.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.11 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $24.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.87.

Pan American Silver (NYSE:PAAS) (TSE:PAAS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.35. The business had revenue of $815.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $805.20 million. Pan American Silver had a net margin of 3.98% and a return on equity of 6.14%. Equities analysts predict that Pan American Silver will post 1.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pan American Silver Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Pan American Silver’s payout ratio is currently 125.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pan American Silver

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PAAS. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Pan American Silver by 191.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 167,847 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,394,000 after acquiring an additional 110,170 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Pan American Silver by 143.1% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 31,163 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $630,000 after purchasing an additional 18,343 shares during the period. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co purchased a new stake in Pan American Silver in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,365,000. Pullen Investment Management LLC increased its position in Pan American Silver by 40.8% during the 4th quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 86,748 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,754,000 after purchasing an additional 25,154 shares during the period. Finally, Credit Industriel ET Commercial purchased a new position in shares of Pan American Silver during the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,537,000. 55.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PAAS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Securities lowered shares of Pan American Silver from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $28.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Pan American Silver from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Pan American Silver from $28.00 to $28.50 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Pan American Silver from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.92.

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.