When you think about some of the top gold stocks, what price do you think of? Are they gold stocks trading under $50 or maybe they’re gold stocks trading under $10? On another side, are you looking to buy gold stocks trading over $100? Honestly, the price shouldn’t matter as much as the market for the stock and the company you’re investing in.
[Special Report] Top Gold Stocks To Watch In April 2020; 1 Up 110%
A quick case in point: no matter how high or low any stock trades, if there isn’t an active market, you risk not being able to make immediate money with stocks. The simple reason behind this is that it might be easy to buy stocks but when it comes to selling them, an illiquid market with wide spreads isn’t helpful. This is why people search for active stocks with strong companies to justify the activity and market cap.
When it comes to gold stocks, while small-caps typically produce the biggest and quickest gains, large-caps have something to offer as well. Many of these larger, more developed companies typically carry a dividend. So even if the stock prices don’t move dramatically, a dividend can be helpful.
At the same time, where small-caps an drop quickly during times of market volatility, large caps tend to weather the storm a bit better; notice that I say “tend to”. This isn’t always the case as we saw in mid-March. Needless to say, a well-diversified gold stocks watch list could include both large- and small-cap gold stocks. Given the current surge in gold prices, here’s a list of gold stocks that fall into the larger-cap category right now.
Large-Cap Gold Stocks: Franco-Nevada Corp
One of the higher-priced gold stocks still producing noticeable gains this year has been Franco-Nevada Corp (FNV Stock Report). The company is considered a precious-metals royalty and investment company. It owns a portfolio of precious metals and royalty streams, which is actively managed to generate the bulk of its revenue from gold, silver, and platinum.
Like most streaming companies (not the Netflix kind) Franco-Nevada doesn’t operate mines, develop projects, or conduct exploration. The company holds a portfolio of assets, diversified by commodity, revenue type, and stage of a project, primarily located in the United States, Canada, and Australia.
Since March 16th, FNV stock has been one to watch. At the time, it traded around $77 and over the last month, shares have managed to jump to highs of $127.85. When was the last time you heard about a stock over $50 rallying nearly 70% within a single month? Furthermore, FNV stock isn’t thinly traded either. On average the gold stock trades roughly 1.5 million shares per day.
Large-Cap Gold Stocks: Royal Gold
Royal Gold stock (RGLD Stock Report) is another one of the gold stocks above $100. Similar to Franco-Nevada, however, shares of RGLD stock pulled back and reached lows of $59.78 in March. Fast-forward 5 weeks and Royal Gold stock has reached highs of $112.99 on April 21. Similar to FNV, when was the last time you saw a stock over $50 jump 89% in roughly 1 month?
Royal Gold also manages precious metal royalties and streams, with a focus on gold. Similar to FNV, the company operates by purchasing a percentage of the metal produced from a mineral property for an initial payment, without assuming the responsibility of mining operations.
The company owns a portfolio of producing, development, evaluation, and exploration royalties and streams, and the majority of group revenue is generated from Canada, Mexico, Chile, and the United States. This includes a deal with Centerra at the richly mineralized Mt. Milligan property in Northern British Columbia. Last week, B. Riley FBR raised its price target on Royal Gold to $150 and maintained a Buy rating on the gold stock.
Large-Cap Gold Stocks: Newmont Corporation
Newmont Corporation (NEM Stock Report) is another one of the higher priced, higher flying gold stocks to watch. Unlike Franco-Nevada and Royal Gold, Newmont is a gold producer. Specifically, Newmont is the world’s largest gold producer. In 2019, the company produced 6.3 million attributable ounces of gold and 624 million attributable gold equivalent ounces from the sale of byproducts. On a long-term basis, the company expects to produce 6.2 to 6.7 million ounces of annual gold production while driving all-in sustaining costs down to $800 per $900 per ounce. In comparison, 2019 AISC was $966 per ounce.
This week Newmont gold stock continued making headlines. The company announced on Tuesday that it will boost its quarterly dividend by 79% to $0.25 per share. JP Morgan and UBS increased their price targets on Newmont gold stock this month. While UBS increased its target to $58, JP Morgan set its target at $0.70, up from $61 previously.
Since the mid-March pullback, Newmont gold stock has followed a similar trend as the others. Shares traded as low as $33 and have moved as high as $61.53 this month.