Top 3 Silver Picks to Watch as Bull Market Gains Steam

Globe and Mail

4 hours ago

Gold has been a very good investment for investors in the last two years. However, there are many reasons why investors are starting to look at silver. Silver has broken above $37 per ounce. That's a significant target for technicians who say there's very little resistance between $37 and an all-time high of around $50.
It's a supply-and-demand issue. The last super spike in silver happened in 1979. At that time, the world population was about 2.5 billion less than it is today, and government debt was still below $1 trillion.
This plays into silver's unique role as a currency and a commodity. However, many analysts believe the amount of silver available for extraction is running out, and silver mining production has not kept up with demand.
Silver is sometimes referred to as the poor man's gold. That reflects silver's relatively 'inexpensive' price compared to gold. In fact, that's a fundamental reason why silver may be attractive.
That's because of the silver-gold ratio. That is, how many ounces of silver would be required to ounce one ounce of gold. As of June 17, that spread is about 91, which is historically high.
Owning physical silver in bars or coins is a popular way to own silver. But it's not for every investor. However, that shouldn't keep investors away from silver, which can be owned via an exchange-traded fund (ETF) or through mining stocks.
Here are three ways to invest in silver that offer investors exposure to a potential silver bull run.
Growth Through Acquisition May Be the Next Catalyst for This Miner
Pan American Silver Corp. (NYSE: PAAS) is the world's fifth-largest silver producer. In 2024, the mining company produced 21.1 million ounces of silver. In the company's first quarter earnings report in May, it maintained its operational outlook for 2025.
That partially explains the 44.8% increase in the Pan American Silver stock price in 2025. However, analysts continue to believe there's more upside for the stock. That comes from its recent announcement that it was spending $2.1 billion to acquire MAG Silver Corporation, which generates much of its silver production from its 44% joint venture stake in the Juanicipio Project. This project is in the Fresnillo district inside the Mexican Silver Belt.
PAAS stock is up 28.9% in the last 30 days. However, investors may want to wait for a pullback. That's because short interest, while only about 2% of the stock's float, increased over 18% in the last month. That means that much of the stock's gains may be from short covering.
Investors Are Taking a Close Look at This Mid-Tier Miner
Endeavour Silver Corp. (NYSE: EXK) is another mining company to watch. The Canadian miner's flagship project is the Terronera mine in Mexico. The company is expecting to double its silver equivalent production from the mine in 2025-2026.
Endeavour Silver already operates with a relatively light amount of debt. That means if the company can maintain its all-in sustaining costs (AISC) of under $10 per ounce at the mine, it's margins will expand.
Like Pan American Silver, EXK stock is up more than 49% in the last month, making it one of the best-performing basic materials stocks. However, short interest is up as well, which is why some of the recent stock price growth may be due to short covering. Another area where the two companies are similar is the regions in which they operate. Endeavour's operations are in Mexico.
However, the company is significantly smaller than Pan American. With a market cap of just over $1 billion, Endeavour is still lumped in with the junior miners even though it does have active production.
The Next Best Thing to Owning Physical Silver
The iShares Silver Trust (NYSEARCA: SLV) is an exchange-traded fund that tracks physical silver. The fund's assets consist of silver held by the Trust's custodian and issued to shareholders as shares.
This allows investors to get the price benefits of owning physical silver without the custodial challenges that can come from owning the metal. In this case, SLV stock is up 28.4% as of June 17, which is identical to the growth in the spot price of silver. The fund also has an average volume of around 20 million shares, giving investors ample liquidity for trading.
Investors may not like the 0.5% expense ratio. However, it's still a discount to other precious metals ETFs.
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