Top Silver Stocks

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 futures rallied in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but they have drifted downward since then.

Silver stocks, represented by the Global X Silver Miners ETF (SIL), have underperformed the broader market over the past year. SIL has provided a total return of -30.9% over the past 12 months, well below the benchmark Russell 1000's total return of -17.0%. These market performance numbers and all statistics in the tables below are as of Sept. 29, 2022.

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

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.

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• 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 Metals trades in Canada under the ticker SVM.TO. On Aug. 24, Silvercorp announced the launch of a share repurchase program expiring Aug. 28, 2023. Through this program, the company is authorized to buy back up to more than 7.1 million common shares.
  
• 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. Fortuna Silver Mines trades in Canada under the ticker FVI.TO. On Aug. 10, the company released its financial results for Q2 2022. Net income plunged even as sales climbed by more than 39% year-over-year (YOY). Several factors caused the decline in profit, including falling silver prices and lower production.
• 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 trades in Canada under the ticker MAG.TO.

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.

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• Fortuna Silver Mines Inc.: See above for company description.
• Silvercorp Metals Inc.: See above for company description.
• 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. First Majestic trades in Canada under the ticker FR.TO. The company's most recent quarterly dividend of $0.0061 for Q2 2022 was paid on Aug. 31, 2022. Note that First Majestic had negative EPS for the most recent quarter, making an EPS growth figure in the table above impossible to calculate.

Silver Stocks with the Best Performance

These are the silver stocks that had the best returns or smallest declines in total return over the past 12 months out of the companies we looked at.

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• Aya Gold & Silver Inc.: Aya Gold & Silver is a Canada-based mining company targeting properties in Morocco. It explores, develops, produces, and acquires precious metals mining projects. Aya also trades over-the-counter (OTC) in the U.S. under the ticker AYA. The company announced on Sept. 12 that it had made an agreement with Morocco's National Office of Hydrocarbons and Mines to purchase the remaining 15% stake in the Zgounder mining project as well as five adjacent permits. The deal is valued at approximately $6.5 million.
• MAG Silver Corp.: See above for company description.
• 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. Pan American Silver trades OTC in the U.S. under the ticker PAAS. On Sept. 14, Pan American Silver reported a significant increase in its mineral resource estimate for its 100%-owned La Colorada Skarn deposit in Mexico. The updated estimate is for 95.9 metric tons of resources, nearly all of it silver.

Trends in Silver Stocks

Silver has a wide variety of applications in many industries. It is a key material used in electrical components for computers, phones, and automobiles. Perhaps even more important for investors is the crucial role that silver plays in the renewable energy industry. Silver is an important component of photovoltaic technology such as solar cells because of its conductive properties. Solar photovoltaic energy generation increased by 22% in 2021 and is likely to continue to grow at a rapid pace. This suggests that silver will continue to be in high demand as demand for solar energy products increases.

Risks of Silver Stocks

Silver is regarded as a safe haven asset, known for its stability during times of economic turmoil. But the market for silver is smaller than the market for gold, and consequently it tends to experience higher levels of volatility, which may impact the stock prices of silver mining companies. Another risk to investors is that there aren't many pure-play silver miners in the mining industry. Rather, silver is often one of several different minerals mined by a single company. This means that mining company stocks may be impacted by factors related to materials other than silver. Investors should focus on the role that silver mining plays in a company's operations before allocating their funds.

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