Top Gold Stocks for August 2021

Gold has long been regarded as a safe haven in times of market turmoil. Many investors have gained exposure to the precious metal by buying stocks of companies engaged in exploration and mining. Some of the major players in the gold industry include Canada-based Franco Nevada Corp. (FNV), Newmont Corp. (NEM), and Australia-based Newcrest Mining Ltd. (NCM).

Gold stocks, as represented by the VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX), have dramatically underperformed the broader market over the past year as the U.S. and other economies have begun to recover amid the global pandemic. GDX has provided a total return of -17.4% over the past 12 months, well below the Russell 1000's total return of 37.5%. These market performance numbers and all statistics in the tables below are as of July 21, 2021.

Here are the top 5 gold stocks with the best value, the fastest growth, and the most momentum.

Best Value Gold Stocks

Value investing is a factor-based investing strategy that involves picking stocks that you believe are trading for less than what they are intrinsically worth, usually by measuring the ratio of the stock's price to one or more fundamental business metrics. A widely accepted value metric is the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio. Value investors believe that if a business is cheap compared to its intrinsic value, in this case as measured by its P/E ratio, the stock price may rise faster than others as the price comes back in line with the worth of the company. These are the stocks with the lowest 12-month trailing P/E ratio.

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• Centerra Gold Inc.: Centerra Gold is a Canada-based gold mining and exploration company. It engages in the operation, exploration, development, and acquisition of gold properties in North America, Asia, and other global markets. The company operates three mines: the Mount Milligan Mine in Canada; the Kumtor Mine in the Kyrgyz Republic; and the Öksüt Mine in Turkey. Centerra produced 824,059 ounces of gold and 82.8 million pounds of copper in 2020. Centerra also has shares that trade in the U.S. on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol CGAU. On July 7, Centerra announced that it had brought additional claims as part of its binding arbitration against the Kyrgyz government for its attempt to "expropriate" the company's Kumtor Mine. Centerra's amended Notice of Arbitration seeks to hold the Kyrgyz government and state-owned entity Kyrgyzaltyn JSC responsible for all losses and damages stemming from the effort to seize the gold mine.
• Torex Gold Resources Inc.: Torex Gold Resources is a Canada-based intermediate gold producer. It engages in the exploration, development, and operation of its 100%-owned Morelos Gold Property, which is comprised of 29,000 hectares in the Guerrero Gold Belt in Mexico. The company's principal assets include: the El Limon Guajes Mine Complex, comprised of open pit and underground mines; and the Media Luna Project, an advanced stage development project. Torex also has shares that trade over the counter (OTC) in the U.S. under the ticker symbol TORXF. In July, the company reported over 118,000 ounces of gold produced from its El Limón Guajes mine during Q2 2021 and reiterated its full-year production guidance.
• Kinross Gold Corp.: Kinross Gold is a Canada-based gold mining company with a diverse portfolio of mines and projects in the U.S., Brazil, Chile, Ghana, Mauritania, and Russia. The company employs approximately 9,000 people globally and produced 2.4 million gold equivalent ounces in 2020. Kinross also has shares that trade in the U.S. on the NYSE under the ticker symbol KGC.
• Karora Resources Inc.: Karora Resources is a Canada-based, multi-asset mineral resource company primarily focused on the acquisition, exploration, evaluation, and development of precious metal properties. The company's two primary gold-producing operations are its Beta Hunt Mine and the Higginsville Gold Operations. Both operations are located in Australia along the Norseman-Wiluna Greenstone Belt. Karora also has shares that trade OTC in the U.S. under the ticker symbol KRRGF. Karora reported in July that it had achieved record gold production and sales for Q2 2021, with production roughly 20% higher than Q1 2021.
• Dundee Precious Metals Inc.: Dundee Precious Metals is a Canada-based international mining company engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development, mining, and processing of precious metal properties. The company owns three principal subsidiaries: Chelopech, which owns and operates a gold, copper, and silver mine in Bulgaria; Krumovgrad, which is developing a gold property in Bulgaria; and Tsumeb, which owns and operates the company's concentrate processing facility in Namibia.

Fastest Growing Gold Stocks

These are the top gold stocks as ranked by a growth model that scores companies based on a 50/50 weighting of their most recent quarterly year-over-year (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.

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• Karora Resources Inc.: See above for company description.
• Lundin Gold Inc.: Canada-based Lundin Gold is a gold mining company that operates the 100%-owned Fruta del Norte in Ecuador. The company operates a total of roughly 64,609 hectares across 32 metallic mineral and construction materials concessions in southeast Ecuador. Lundin Gold also has shares that trade OTC in the U.S. under the ticker symbol FTMNF. The company announced that it produced 108,799 ounces of gold in Q2 2021 and that, as of July, it remains on track to achieve its full-year production guidance. Note that Lundin Gold does not have an entry in the "EPS Growth" column above because it went from positive to negative EPS during the period in question.
• Centerra Gold Inc.: See above for company description.
• Endeavour Mining PLC: Endeavour Mining is a U.K.-based gold mining company with operations across West Africa. The company's mining operations are located in Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, and Burkina Faso, with additional development and exploration projects along the Birimian Greenstone Belt. The company employs approximately 7,000. Endeavour Mining also has shares that trade OTC in the U.S. under the ticker symbol EDVMF. Endeavour Mining announced that it was admitted to trading on the London Stock Exchange on June 14, 2021.
• Equinox Gold Corp.: Equinox Gold is a Canada-based, multi-asset mining company that operates entirely within the Americas. The company has seven operating gold mines and four growth projects throughout Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Brazil. It is poised to achieve annual gold production of one million ounces. Equinox also has shares that trade in the U.S. on the NYSE Arca exchange under the ticker symbol EQX.

Gold Stocks with the Most Momentum

Momentum investing is a factor-based investing strategy that involves investing in a stock whose price has risen faster than the market as a whole. Momentum investors believe that stocks that have outperformed the market will often continue to do so because the factors that caused them to outperform will not suddenly disappear. In addition, other investors, seeking to benefit from the stock's outperformance, will often purchase the stock, further bidding its price higher and pushing the stock higher still. These are the stocks that had the highest total return over the last 12 months.

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• Sibanye-Stillwater Ltd.: Sibanye-Stillwater is a South Africa-based producer of precious metals. The company develops and extracts mineral properties. Its diverse portfolio includes platinum metal operations in the U.S. and Southern Africa, gold operations and projects in South Africa, and copper, gold, and platinum metal exploration properties in North and South America. The company is the largest primary producer of platinum, the second-largest primary producer of palladium, and ranks third among global gold producers on a gold-equivalent basis.
• Orezone Gold Corp.: Orezone Gold is a Canada-based gold exploration and development company with operations in West Africa. The company owns a 90% stake in Bomboré, an undeveloped gold deposit in Burkina Faso. On July 14, the company provided a construction update on the Bomboré project. Despite rising raw materials costs an other inflationary pressures globally, the company said that Bomboré is within projected costs and is on schedule to pour its first gold in Q3 2022. Orezone gold also has shares that trade OTC in the U.S. under the ticker symbol ORZCF.
• K92 Mining Inc.: K92 Mining is a Canada-based precious metals producer. The company owns and operates the high-grade, low-cost underground Kainantu Gold Mine in the Eastern Highlands province of Papua New Guinea. K92 also engages in exploration projects near its mine and in other parts of the region and has shares that trade OTC in the U.S. under the ticker symbol KNTNF.
• Artemis Gold Inc.: Artemis Gold is a Canada-based gold mining development company. The company's primary focus is advancing to construction the Blackwater Gold Project in British Columbia, Canada. The project contains over 10 million ounces of gold in resources. On July 15, the company announced that it had received a permit from the province of British Columbia allowing for early construction works at the Blackwater Gold Project. This is the first step required for mine construction. Artemis Gold has shares that trade OTC in the U.S. under the ticker symbol ARGTF.
• Marathon Gold Corp.: Marathon Gold is a Canada-based gold development company. It is working to advance its 100%-owned Valentine Gold Project located in a Canadian region that is considered one of the top mining areas in the world. The project is an open-pit mining and conventional milling operation. It has an expected mine life of 13 years with first production scheduled for 2023. Marathon Gold also has shares that trade OTC in the U.S. under the ticker symbol MGDPF.

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