Top Silver Stocks for Q3 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 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 significantly underperformed the broader market over the past year. SIL has provided a total return of -36.2% over the past 12 months, far below the benchmark Russell 1000's total return of -5.6%. These market performance numbers and all statistics in the tables below are as of June 9, 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. Silvercorp announced on May 27 a semi-annual dividend of $0.0125 per share. The dividend is payable on June 24 to shareholders of record as of June 6, 2022.
  
• 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. Fortuna announced Q1 2022 earnings results on May 11. Net income climbed by 2.3% while sales grew by 54.8% year-over-year (YOY). Sales growth was driven by strong performance by the company's Lindero mine.
• 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 Corp. trades in Canada under the ticker PAAS.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.

^{Source: YCharts}

• 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. First Majestic entered a definitive agreement on May 24 to sell its La Guitarra Silver Mine, located in Mexico, to Sierra Madre Gold & Silver Ltd. for a total consideration of $35 million. As part of the deal, First Majestic Silver will receive 69 million shares of Sierra Madre, which will give First Majestic 47% ownership Sierra Madre's outstanding shares. The sale is expected to be completed in the second half of the year.
• Fortuna Silver Mines Inc.: See above for company description.
• Pan American Silver Corp.: See above for company description. Because Pan American Silver's EPS went from negative to positive in the period in question, a calculation of EPS growth is not possible for the table above.

Silver Stocks with the Best Performance

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

^{Source: YCharts}

• Pan American Silver Corp.: See company description above.
• 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. MAG reported Q1 2022 earnings results on May 17. Net income was $2.7 million, compared with net loss for the prior-year quarter. MAG did not provide companywide sales figures for the quarter.
• Fortuna Silver Mines Inc.: See company description above. Note that the listing in the table above is for Canada-listed shares of Fortuna Silver Mines.

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