Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. (NYSE:FSM) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. (NYSE:FSM) (TSE:FVI) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 18,110,000 shares, an increase of 16.8% from the February 13th total of 15,510,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 13,010,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.4 days. Currently, 6.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Fortuna Silver Mines Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:FSM traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $6.07. 10,519,033 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,617,825. Fortuna Silver Mines has a one year low of $3.23 and a one year high of $6.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.86 billion, a PE ratio of 75.77 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business’s 50 day moving average is $4.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4.75.

Fortuna Silver Mines (NYSE:FSM) (TSE:FVI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.09). Fortuna Silver Mines had a net margin of 2.45% and a return on equity of 10.08%. The business had revenue of $302.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $301.65 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Fortuna Silver Mines will post 0.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co purchased a new stake in Fortuna Silver Mines during the 4th quarter valued at $663,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Fortuna Silver Mines by 224.6% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 4,720,375 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $20,240,000 after acquiring an additional 3,266,096 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its stake in shares of Fortuna Silver Mines by 71.9% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 651,688 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,796,000 after purchasing an additional 272,547 shares during the period. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors bought a new position in Fortuna Silver Mines during the 4th quarter valued at about $67,000. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC raised its position in Fortuna Silver Mines by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 186,703 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $801,000 after purchasing an additional 18,523 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 33.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on FSM shares. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Fortuna Silver Mines from $6.75 to $6.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Cibc World Mkts lowered Fortuna Silver Mines from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, CIBC lowered Fortuna Silver Mines from a “neutral” rating to a “sector underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th.

About Fortuna Silver Mines

Fortuna Mining Corp. engages in the precious and base metal mining in Argentina, Burkina Faso, Mexico, Peru, and Côte d’Ivoire. It operates through Mansfield, Sanu, Sango, Cuzcatlan, Bateas, and Corporate segments. The company primarily explores for silver, lead, zinc, and gold. Its flagship project is the Séguéla gold mine, which consists of approximately 62,000 hectares and is located in the Worodougou Region of the Woroba District, Côte d’Ivoire.