Top Silver Stocks for Q1 2022

Silver is valued both as an industrial metal and as a precious metal. It is used in jewelry, electronics, and photography. Many investors use it as a safe haven in times of economic turmoil and sometimes as a hedge against inflation. Silver mining companies are engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of mineral properties. These companies often mine for other metals and minerals besides silver, such as zinc, lead, copper, and gold. Silver is often a byproduct produced from mining these other metals. Some big names in the industry include Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (WPM), Hecla Mining Co. (HL), and SSR Mining Inc. (SSRM).

Silver stocks, represented by the Global X Silver Miners ETF (SIL), have significantly underperformed the broader market over the past year. SIL has provided a total return of -17.8% over the past 12 months, far below the benchmark Russell 1000's total return of 21.0%. These market performance numbers and all statistics in the tables below are as of Jan. 13, 2022.

Here are the top three silver stocks with the best value, the fastest growth, and the most momentum.

Best Value Silver Stocks

These are the silver stocks with the lowest 12-month trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio. Because profits can be returned to shareholders in the form of dividends and buybacks, a low P/E ratio shows you’re paying less for each dollar of profit generated.

^{Source: YCharts}

• Fortuna Silver Mines Inc.: Fortuna Silver Mines is a Canada-based mining company focused on silver mining in Latin America and West Africa. The company operates silver, lead, zinc, and gold mines. On Nov. 11, 2021, the company reported a net income decline of 98.5% year-over-year (YOY) on sales that nearly doubled YOY for Q3 2021, ended Sept. 30. Net income was negatively impacted by transaction costs related to the acquisition of Roxgold Inc. and the settlement of a disputed royalty claim with the Mexican Geological Service.
• Silvercorp Metals Inc.: Silvercorp Metals is a Canada-based mining company that acquires, explores, and develops mineral properties in China. The company produces silver, lead, and zinc metals. Silvercorp reported operational results for its Q3 FY 2022 ended Dec. 31, 2021 on Jan. 13, 2022. The company reported increases in production of silver, gold, lead, and zinc on a sequential basis. Gold production levels were up 38% from Q3. Financial results for the quarter will be released on Feb. 8.
• Pan American Silver Corp.: Pan American Silver is a Canada-based mining company focused on the production of silver, gold, zinc, lead, and copper. The company's mining activities include exploration, extraction, processing, refining, and reclamation.

Fastest Growing Silver Stocks

These are the top silver stocks as ranked by a growth model that scores companies based on a 50/50 weighting of their most recent quarterly YOY percentage revenue growth and their most recent quarterly YOY earnings-per-share (EPS) growth. Both sales and earnings are critical factors in the success of a company. Therefore ranking companies by only one growth metric makes a ranking susceptible to the accounting anomalies of that quarter (such as changes in tax law or restructuring costs) that may make one or the other figure unrepresentative of the business in general. Companies with quarterly EPS or revenue growth of over 2,500% were excluded as outliers.

^{Source: YCharts}

• Silvercorp Metals Inc.: See above for company description.
• Fortuna Silver Mines Inc.: See above for company description. Because Fortuna Silver Mines' EPS went from positive to negative over the period in question, a calculation of EPS growth is not possible for the table above.
• Pan American Silver Corp.: See above for company description.

Silver Stocks with the Most Momentum

These are the silver stocks that had the highest total return over the past 12 months. Companies with total returns over 2,500% have been excluded as outliers.

^{Source: YCharts}

• Discovery Silver Corp.: Discovery Silver is a Canada-based exploration and development company. It targets silver projects in Mexico and Puerto Rico.
• First Majestic Silver Corp.: First Majestic Silver is a Canada-based silver and gold producer that is engaged in the exploration and development of mineral properties in the U.S. and Mexico.
• MAG Silver Corp.: MAG Silver is a Canada-based mineral exploration and development company. Its focus is on the acquisition, exploration, and development of silver projects in Mexico. MAG Silver announced in late December that Mexico's state-owned electric company, due to lack of staffing related to the pandemic, had not granted approval for the Juanicipio Project to tie in to the national power grid. As a result, the timeline for the approval of mill commissioning activities will be extended by approximately six months until May 2022.

The comments, opinions, and analyses expressed herein are for informational purposes only and should not be considered individual investment advice or recommendations to invest in any security or to adopt any investment strategy. Though we believe the information provided herein is reliable, we do not warrant its accuracy or completeness. The views and strategies described in our content may not be suitable for all investors. Because market and economic conditions are subject to rapid change, all comments, opinions, and analyses contained within our content are rendered as of the date of the posting and may change without notice. The material is not intended as a complete analysis of every material fact regarding any country, region, market, industry, investment, or strategy.