Pan American Silver Corp. (NYSE:PAAS) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pan American Silver

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Pan American Silver during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $91,916,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pan American Silver by 1,834.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,344,991 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $28,084,000 after buying an additional 1,275,475 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Pan American Silver during the 4th quarter valued at $24,083,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in shares of Pan American Silver by 661.2% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,307,617 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $26,300,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135,839 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pan American Silver by 110.0% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,498,246 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $30,295,000 after acquiring an additional 784,906 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.43% of the company's stock.

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Pan American Silver Price Performance

PAAS traded down $1.11 on Thursday, reaching $24.86. The company had a trading volume of 2,523,081 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,184,127. Pan American Silver has a one year low of $16.55 and a one 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 company has a market capitalization of $9.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.69 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a fifty day moving average of $24.69 and a 200-day moving average of $22.96.

Pan American Silver (NYSE:PAAS - Get Free Report) TSE: PAAS last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35. Pan American Silver had a return on equity of 6.14% and a net margin of 3.98%. The firm had revenue of $815.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $805.20 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Pan American Silver will post 1.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Pan American Silver Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Pan American Silver's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 125.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAAS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped 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 note on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com downgraded Pan American Silver from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Pan American Silver from $28.00 to $28.50 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, TD Securities cut Pan American Silver from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their target price for the company from $28.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $27.92.

Pan American Silver Company Profile

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.