CIBC Capital Markets raised its price target on nine silver mining companies.

Analyst Cosmos Chiu increased his target on Aya Gold & Silver Inc. (AYA.TO) to $23 from $22 (Outperform), Discovery Silver Corp. (DSV.TO) to $7 from $6 (Outperform), Endeavour Silver Corp. (EDR.TO, EXK) to $12 from $10 (Neutral), and Hecla Mining Co. (HL.TO) to $12.50 from $8 (Neutral).

Chiu raised his target on Pan American Silver Corp. (PAAS.TO, PAAS) to $50 from $46 (Outperform), Skeena Resources Ltd. (SKE.TO, SKE) to $36 from $26 (Outperform), SSR Mining Inc. (SSRM.TO) to $26 from $16.50 (Neutral), Vizsla Silver Corp. (VZLA.TO) to $7.50 from $7 (Outperform), and Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (WPM.TO, WPM) to $135 from $130 (Outperform).

"Silver has punched through the key psychological level of $40/oz and is quickly approaching $45/oz," the analyst said in a note to clients.

"The strength in the silver price is certainly well timed, providing positive support for an overall strong first half of the year for silver producers, with a number of companies reporting strong earnings (WPM and PAAS), and others now pointing to increased production through the completion of planned expansions and integration of recently acquired or newly producing assets (e.g., EDR, SSRM, DSV, and AYA)," Chiu said.

"Our top picks are AYA (leverage to the silver price), WPM (diversified silver exposure), VZLA (high-quality development stage asset), and PAAS (diversified portfolio with highest correlation to the silver commodity)."

(MT Newswires covers equity, commodity and economic research from major banks and research firms in North America, Asia and Europe. Research providers may contact us here: https://www.mtnewswires.com/contact-us)