Pan American Silver (PAAS) Competitors

Wheaton Precious Metals (TSE:WPM) and Pan American Silver (TSE:PAAS) are both large-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, profitability, risk, dividends and media sentiment.

Does the media refer more to WPM or PAAS?

In the previous week, Pan American Silver had 2 more articles in the media than Wheaton Precious Metals. MarketBeat recorded 3 mentions for Pan American Silver and 1 mentions for Wheaton Precious Metals. Wheaton Precious Metals' average media sentiment score of 1.19 beat Pan American Silver's score of 0.67 indicating that Wheaton Precious Metals is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Wheaton Precious Metals	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Pan American Silver	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders & institutionals hold more shares of WPM or PAAS?

69.4% of Wheaton Precious Metals shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 62.0% of Pan American Silver shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of Wheaton Precious Metals shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Pan American Silver shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has higher earnings and valuation, WPM or PAAS?

Wheaton Precious Metals has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Pan American Silver. Pan American Silver is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Wheaton Precious Metals, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Wheaton Precious Metals	C$851.18M	46.40	C$426.03M	C$1.92	64.81
Pan American Silver	C$1.88B	5.63	-C$33.47M	-C$0.19	-222.40

Which has more risk & volatility, WPM or PAAS?

Wheaton Precious Metals has a beta of 0.7, suggesting that its share price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pan American Silver has a beta of 1.4, suggesting that its share price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer WPM or PAAS?

Wheaton Precious Metals currently has a consensus target price of C$109.50, indicating a potential downside of 12.08%. Pan American Silver has a consensus target price of C$52.50, indicating a potential upside of 26.57%. Given Pan American Silver's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Pan American Silver is more favorable than Wheaton Precious Metals.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Wheaton Precious Metals	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	4 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.44
Pan American Silver	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Is WPM or PAAS more profitable?

Wheaton Precious Metals has a net margin of 50.05% compared to Pan American Silver's net margin of -1.78%. Wheaton Precious Metals' return on equity of 8.56% beat Pan American Silver's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Wheaton Precious Metals	50.05%	8.56%	5.35%
Pan American Silver	-1.78%	-1.02%	0.43%

Is WPM or PAAS a better dividend stock?

Wheaton Precious Metals pays an annual dividend of C$0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Pan American Silver pays an annual dividend of C$0.54 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Wheaton Precious Metals pays out 43.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Pan American Silver pays out -289.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Pan American Silver is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Wheaton Precious Metals beats Pan American Silver on 13 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.