Top Gold Stocks for May 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 underperformed the broader market over the past year. GDX has provided a total return of 2.7% over the past 12 months, well below the iShares Russell 1000 ETF's (IWB) total return of 48.9%. These market performance numbers and all statistics in the tables below, except for Jaguar Mining, are as of April 29, 2021. The statistics for Jaguar Mining are as of April 30, 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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• 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 South 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. On April 22, 2021, Sibanye-Stillwater announced a series of changes to senior leadership positions, including the appointment of Themba Nkosi as chief social performance officer (CSPO) and Lerato Legong as chief legal officer (CLO). These changes follow the previously announced appointments of Richard Stewart to the role of chief operating officer (COO) and Robert van Niekerk as chief technology officer (CTO).
• 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 projects that it will produce 2.4 million gold equivalent ounces in 2021. Kinross also has shares that trade in the U.S. on the New York Stock Exchange (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 over-the-counter (OTC) in the U.S. under the ticker symbol KRRGF.
• Dundee Precious Metals Inc.: Dundee Precious Metals is a Canada-based international mining company engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development, and mining 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 focused on the development of a gold property in Bulgaria; and Tsumeb, which owns and operates the company's concentrate processing facility in Namibia. Dundee also has shares that trade OTC in the U.S. under the ticker symbol DPMLF.
• 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 NYSE under the ticker symbol CGAU.

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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• Calibre Mining Corp.: Calibre Mining is a Canada-based multi-asset gold producer with global operations. The company operates three producing gold mines, all three of which are located in Nicaragua: There's El Limon, which covers an area of 12,000 hectares; La Libertad, which covers an area of approximately 10,937 hectares; and Pavon Gold Mine, covering an area of 31.5 square kilometers. Calibre also has shares that trade OTC in the U.S. under the ticker symbol CXBMF. The company announced on Feb. 26, 2021, that President and CEO Russell Ball was stepping down from his executive position and as a director of the company for personal reasons. The company's Senior VP and COO Darren Hall was appointed president and CEO and director of Calibre.
• SSR Mining Inc.: SSR Mining is a Canada-based intermediate gold mining company that operates four producing assets located in the U.S., Turkey, Canada, and Argentina, as well as development and exploration assets in the U.S., Turkey, Mexico, Peru, and Canada. The company's four operating assets produced more than 720,000 ounces of gold and 7.7 million ounces of silver in 2019. SSR Mining also has shares that trade in the U.S. on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol SSRM. The company announced on Feb. 26, 2021, the appointment of Alison White to the roles of executive vice president and chief financial officer (CFO). Prior to joining SSR, White served in various corporate and regional roles at Newmont Mining.
• Jaguar Mining Inc.: Jaguar is a Canada-based mining company that explores and develops gold properties. The company operates in the Iron Quadrangle, a prolific greenstone belt located in Minas Gerais, Brazil. It has been an area of mineral exploration dating back to the 16^th century. Jaguar’s gold mining operations include the Turmalina mining complex and the Caeté mining complex. The company also has shares that trade OTC in the U.S. under the ticker symbol JAGGF.
• Yamana Gold Inc.: Yamana Gold is a Canada-based mining company that develops and explores gold and silver properties. The company operates five mines throughout the Americas: El Peñón, an underground mine with a strong track record of exploration success; Jacobina, an underground mine complex that has more than doubled production since 2014; Canadian Malartic, a large underground mining project with decades of potential opportunities; Minera Florida, an established underground mine in transition to newer high-grade zones; and Cerro Moro, a high-grade underground and open-pit mine with exploration upside for future growth. Yamana also has shares that trade in the U.S. on the NYSE under the ticker symbol AUY. The company's EPS and revenue growth rates are based on its Q4 2020 fiscal year (FY), which ended on Dec. 31, 2020. Yamana recently issued results for Q1 FY 2021.
• Karora Resources Inc.: See above for company description.

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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• Rupert Resources Ltd.: Rupert Resources is a Canada-based gold mining company focused on the exploration and production of precious and base metals. The company's main mining operations are located in Finland, with a primary focus on the Pahtavaara Project in the Central Lapland Greenstone Belt. However, it also has other properties in central Finland and Canada. Rupert also has shares that trade OTC in the U.S. under the ticker symbol RUPRF.
• Sibanye-Stillwater Ltd.: See above for company description.
• Hecla Mining Co.: Hecla Mining is a precious metals company engaged in the discovery, acquisition, development, and production of gold, silver, and associated base metals. The company is the largest silver producer in the U.S. It operates the Greens Creek and Lucky Friday mines in the U.S., and the Casa Berardi mine in Canada. The company also owns a number of exploration and pre-development projects throughout North America. Hecla announced on April 8, 2021, preliminary production results for Q1 2021, the three-month period ended March 31, 2021. Gold production decreased 12% while silver production increased 7%, compared to the same quarter a year ago.
• 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.
• Coeur Mining Inc.: Coeur Mining is a diversified precious metals producer with five operations throughout North America. Its operations include: the Palmarejo silver-gold complex in Mexico; the Rochester silver-gold mine in Nevada; the Kensington gold mine in Alaska; the Wharf gold mine in South Dakota; and the Silvertip silver-zinc-lead mine in Canada. The company also owns interests in a number of precious metals exploration projects. On April 28, 2021, Coeur announced financial results for its Q1 2021, the three-month period ended March 31, 2021. The company reported net income of $2.1 million, a significant turnaround from the year-ago quarter's net loss of $11.9 million. Revenue for the quarter rose 16.7%.

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