Top Gold Stocks for June 2020

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 mining companies Franco Nevada Corp. (FNV), Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. (AEM), and Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd. (KL). Gold stocks, as represented by the VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX), have dramatically outperformed the broader market amid the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. The ETF has posted a total return of 64.4% compared to the S&P 500's total return of 8.9% over the past 12 months. These market performance numbers and the statistics in the tables below are as of May 27.

Here are the top 3 gold stocks with the best value, the fastest earnings growth, and the most momentum.

These are the gold stocks with the lowest 12-month trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio. Because profits can be returned to shareholders in the form of dividends and buybacks, a low P/E ratio shows you’re paying less for each dollar of profit generated.

Source: YCharts

• Barrick Gold Corp.: Barrick Gold is a Canada-based mining company primarily engaged in the production and sale of gold and copper. The company operates mines and has development projects in the U.S., Canada, South America, Australia, and Africa. On May 25, the company announced that it reached a $300 million settlement with the government of Tanzania, helping to put to rest a dispute that had arisen following the company’s acquisition of Acacia Mining in September 2019.
• Kinross Gold Corp.: Kinross Gold is a Canada-based gold mining company engaged in the exploration, development, and production of gold with properties in Canada, the U.S., Russia, Brazil, Ecuador, Chile, Ghana, and Mauritania. The company announced in January that it had completed its acquisition of a high-quality development in Russia from N-Mining Ltd. for total fixed consideration of $283 million.
• Alacer Gold Corp.: Alacer Gold is a gold producer engaged in the mining, development, and exploration of mineral deposits in Turkey. On May 11, the company announced plans to merge with SSR Mining Inc., with the goal of producing a diversified entity focused on generating free cash flow.

These are the gold stocks with the highest year-over-year (YOY) earnings per share (EPS) growth for the most recent quarter. Rising earnings show that a company’s business is growing and is generating more money that it can reinvest or return to shareholders.

Source: YCharts

• Alacer Gold Corp.: See above for company description.
• Newmont Corp.: Newmont is a gold mining company that also mines other types of minerals, such as silver, copper, lead, and zinc. The company had over 100 million ounces of proven gold reserves as of December 31, 2019.
• SSR Mining Inc.: Canada-based SSR Mining is active in the exploration and development of gold and silver mines. It has operations throughout the Americas, with its three largest properties located in Nevada; Saskatchewan, Canada; and Argentina. As mentioned higher in this story, the company May 11 announced plans to merge with Alacer Gold. On May 14, SSR Mining also announced that it had sold its equity holding in SilverCrest Metals Inc. (SILV) for total proceeds of roughly CA$90 million.

These are the gold stocks that had the highest total return over the last 12 months.

Source: YCharts

• DRDGold Ltd.: DRDGold owns and operates underground mines and surface-retreatment operations in South Africa. The company announced in mid-April that it was resuming work at reduced levels at its Ergo and Far West Gold Recoveries operations. The company said that the resumption was warranted because the COVID-19 infection rate in South Africa had slowed considerably.
• Liberty Gold Corp.: Based in Canada, Liberty Gold is an exploration company that operates two wholly-owned properties. Known as the “Black Pine” and “Goldstrike” properties, these two projects are located in Idaho and Utah, respectively. The company commenced drilling at its Black Pine location on March 31 of this year.
• Belo Sun Mining Corp.: Based Canada, Belo Sun Mining is a mineral exploration and development company. It's primarily focused on gold exploration and development of the Volta Grande advanced-staged development project in northern Brazil.