Pan American Silver Corp. (NASDAQ: PAAS) and SSR Mining (NASDAQ:SSRM) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, dividends, risk, profitabiliy, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Pan American Silver Corp. and SSR Mining, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Pan American Silver Corp. | 0 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 2.44 |
| SSR Mining | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2.50 |
Pan American Silver Corp. currently has a consensus price target of $20.00, indicating a potential upside of 25.00%. SSR Mining has a consensus price target of $14.25, indicating a potential upside of 57.63%. Given SSR Mining’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe SSR Mining is more favorable than Pan American Silver Corp..
Volatility & Risk
Pan American Silver Corp. has a beta of 0.29, meaning that its share price is 71% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SSR Mining has a beta of -0.12, meaning that its share price is 112% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Pan American Silver Corp. and SSR Mining’s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | EBITDA | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Pan American Silver Corp. | $815.19 million | 3.01 | $294.08 million | $0.77 | 20.78 |
| SSR Mining | N/A | N/A | N/A | $0.68 | 13.29 |
Pan American Silver Corp. has higher revenue and earnings than SSR Mining. SSR Mining is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Pan American Silver Corp., indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares Pan American Silver Corp. and SSR Mining’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Pan American Silver Corp. | 14.56% | 6.13% | 4.58% |
| SSR Mining | 12.76% | 6.51% | 4.13% |
Institutional and Insider Ownership
50.1% of Pan American Silver Corp. shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 46.4% of SSR Mining shares are owned by institutional investors. 12.9% of Pan American Silver Corp. shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Dividends
Pan American Silver Corp. pays an annual dividend of $0.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. SSR Mining does not pay a dividend. Pan American Silver Corp. pays out 13.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.
Summary
Pan American Silver Corp. beats SSR Mining on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Pan American Silver Corp.
Pan American Silver Corp. is a silver production company. The Company is principally engaged in the operation and development of, and exploration for, silver producing properties. The Company’s segments include Peru, Mexico, Argentina and Bolivia. The Company also produces and sells gold, zinc, lead and copper. The Company’s operating properties in Mexico include La Colorada Mine, Dolores and Alamo Dorado. The Company’s operating properties in Peru include Huaron Mine and Morococha Mine. The Company’s operating properties in Bolivia include San Vicente. The Company’s operating properties in Argentina include Manantial Espejo. The Company’s development properties include Navidad Property. The La Colorada underground silver mine is located in the Chalchihuites district in Zacatecas State, Mexico, approximately 99 kilometers south of Durango and 156 kilometers northwest of Zacatecas. The La Colorada consists of approximately 60 claims totaling approximately 8,400 hectares.
About SSR Mining
SSR Mining Inc, formerly Silver Standard Resources Inc, is a Canada-based resource company. The Company is engaged in the operation, acquisition, exploration and development of precious metal resource properties located in the Americas. The Company’s segments include Pirquitas mine, Marigold mine, Seabee Gold Operation, and Exploration and evaluation properties. The Company has three producing mines and a portfolio of silver resource dominant projects located throughout the Americas. The Company is focused on silver production from the Pirquitas mine in Argentina and gold production from the Marigold mine in Nevada, the United States. The Company’s other projects include Seabee Gold Operation in Saskatchewan, Canada and Pirquitas mine in Jujuy, Argentina. The Marigold mine produced approximately 205,116 ounces of gold. The Seabee Gold Operation produced approximately 77,640 ounces of gold. The Pirquitas mine produced approximately 10.4 million ounces of silver.
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