Pan American Silver Corp. $PAAS Position Boosted by HighTower Advisors LLC

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC significantly increased its stake in Pan American Silver Corp. by 753.6%, now holding 179,788 shares valued at approximately $4.64 million.
• Pan American Silver reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.43, surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.40, with revenues of $811.90 million, an 18.3% increase year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend increase to $0.12 per share, which reflects an annualized yield of 1.5%, with the ex-dividend date set for August 18th.

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Pan American Silver Corp. (NYSE:PAAS - Free Report) TSE: PAAS by 753.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 179,788 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 158,726 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Pan American Silver were worth $4,644,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAAS. Graybill Wealth Management LTD. acquired a new position in shares of Pan American Silver during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Pan American Silver by 39.8% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,720 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 775 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Pan American Silver by 507.3% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 4,500 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 3,759 shares in the last quarter. Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new position in shares of Pan American Silver during the first quarter worth about $151,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of Pan American Silver by 13.4% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 6,959 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $180,000 after purchasing an additional 820 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.43% of the company's stock.

Pan American Silver Stock Up 1.9%

NYSE PAAS traded up $0.60 on Friday, hitting $32.64. 4,242,176 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,680,693. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $29.51 and a 200 day moving average of $26.68. Pan American Silver Corp. has a twelve month low of $18.50 and a twelve month high of $32.82. The company has a market capitalization of $11.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 3.05, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Pan American Silver (NYSE:PAAS - Get Free Report) TSE: PAAS last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.03. Pan American Silver had a return on equity of 11.49% and a net margin of 16.80%.The firm had revenue of $811.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $782.12 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.11 earnings per share. Pan American Silver's revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Pan American Silver Corp. will post 1.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pan American Silver Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. This is a positive change from Pan American Silver's previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Pan American Silver's payout ratio is currently 33.10%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on PAAS shares. CIBC restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Pan American Silver in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Zacks Research cut Pan American Silver from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen cut Pan American Silver from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. Finally, TD Securities cut their price target on Pan American Silver from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $31.40.

Pan American Silver 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.