Silver Standard Resources Inc. (SSRI, Financial) released its first-quarter 2017 financial results last week.
The Canadian gold and silver miner closed the first quarter with adjusted EPS of 17 cents, a 54.5% increase on a year-over-year basis, or $19.7 million. Last year, the company reported adjusted EPS of 11 cents. The Vancouver-based mining company beat analysts’ expectations on earnings by five cents, generating a positive surprise of 41.7%.
Source: Yahoo finance
The improvement in the bottom line was backed by quarterly revenue of $117.9 million. First-quarter revenue increased16.1% from $101.51 million in the prior-year quarter. The company also beat revenue expectations by $6.23 million.
Source: Yahoo Finance
The cash flow from operations was $30.643 million, a 141% increase from the comparable quarter of 2016. The company attributed the increase to higher gold and silver prices and higher volumes of gold sold at a lower unit cost.
Free cash flow was approximately $12.525 million after deducting funds of $12.525 million in investing activities. At the end of the first quarter, Silver Standard reported an increase in investments in property and plant and a higher amount of capitalized stripping costs sustained at Marigold mine.
The increase in operating cash flow compared to the prior-year quarter was due to improved operating performances at the Seabee Gold and Marigold mines, giving the company more cash on hand.
Increased production and higher gold prices at the two mines offset the decreased production at the company's Pirquitas mine in Argentina.Â
The miner closed the quarter with $531.216 million in cash and securities, an 11.6% increase from a year ago.
Paul Benson,the company's president and CEOÂ commented on its first-quarter 2017 results.
"The first quarter of 2017 marks a strong start to the year as we produced nearly 98,000 gold equivalent ounces at all-in sustaining costs of $977 per payable ounce sold," Benson said. "Our three cash-flowing mines generated $31 million of operating cash flow, supporting our continued investments in sustaining and growing our operations, while also adding to our cash balance which now totals $341 million. This marks the sixth quarter in a row we have added to our cash position."
Silver Standard Resources is trading around $9.19 per share with a price-sales (P/S) ratio of 2.34 and a price-book (P/B) ratio of 1.22.
The EV/EBITDA ratio is 4.82.
The stock has a recommendation rating of 2.6. The analysts' average target price per share is $13.35, a 45.3% upside from the current share price.
Disclosure: I have no positions in Silver Standard Resources.
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