More Proof That Geopolitical Uncertainty Is Good for Gold

Commodities & Metals

Published: August 5, 2019 1:10 pm

Last Updated: January 30, 2020 5:45 pm

People buy gold for many reasons. While hedging against inflation or the value of a single currency can be powerful influences on gold demand, it seems that geopolitical uncertainty can be a force that is hard to stop when it comes to gold demand. With China devaluing the yuan and halting purchases of U.S. agricultural products in response to President Trump’s additional tariffs last week, gold and gold miners are having their day.

The price of gold rose by 0.5% to $1,459.50 per ounce on Monday, although it had been higher earlier in the day. The question to ask now is whether those failed attempts to get to $1,500 seen at the end of June and start of July can be rekindled.

We have included the moves and trading histories of the top gold and related stocks. As there are just two giants due to recent mergers, we have given preference to the gold and related stocks that had a market cap of $5 billion or more, with a couple of exceptions. Consensus analyst target price data comes from Refinitiv.

Newmont Goldcorp Corp. (NYSE: NEM) was up 2.8% at $37.94 on over 4 million shares traded. The stock has a 52-week range of $29.06 to $40.33 and a consensus target price of $43.94. Its market cap is $30.9 billion, and it has a 1.5% dividend yield.

Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: GOLD) was up 5.2% at $17.80 on more than 14 million shares traded. The 52-week range is $9.53 to $17.91, and the consensus target price is $16.84. Its market cap is $31.4 billion, and it has a 0.9% dividend yield.

Franco-Nevada Corp. (NYSE: FNV) was up 2.6% at $91.91, but just on 265,000 shares traded. It has a 52-week range of $58.26 to $92.79. The consensus target price is $81.27. Its market cap is $17.2 billion, and it has a 1.1% dividend yield.

Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. (NYSE: AEM) traded up 2.5% at $55.47 on over 550,000 shares traded. The 52-week range is $32.18 to $56.16, and the consensus analyst target is $60.09. It has a market cap of $13.3 billion and a 0.9% dividend yield.

AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (NYSE: AU) was trading up over 3% at $19.95, with more than 2.7 million shares changing hands. It has a 52-week range of $7.08 to $20.17 and a consensus target price of $19.81. Its market cap is $8.3 billion. The dividend yield is 0.4%.

Royal Gold Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD), which makes its money from precious metal income streams, royalties and related interests rather than as an actual gold mining outfit itself, was up 3.3% at $120.30, but only on about 275,000 shares for the day. The 52-week range is $70.16 to $121.40, and the consensus target price is $105.46. Its market cap is $8.0 billion, while the dividend yield is 0.9%.

Kinross Gold Corp. (NYSE: KGC) was last seen up 6.3% at $4.86, with over 11.5 million shares traded. Its market cap is about $5.7 billion. Kinross Gold has a 52-week trading range of $2.38 to $4.88 and a consensus target price of $4.75. Its market cap is $6.0 billion.

Gold Fields Ltd. (NYSE: GFI) was up 7.7% at $5.87, with over 6.7 million shares changing hands. Its market cap is $4.3 billion, and the 52-week range is $2.20 to $5.96. It has a consensus target price of $5.56, a market cap of $4.7 billion and a 0.5% dividend yield.

Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE: WPM), which is mainly silver and gold and formerly known as Wheaton Silver, was trading up 3.2% at $26.96, in a 52-week range of $15.08 to $27.66. The market cap is $12 billion.

And the battered Hecla Mining Co. (NYSE: HL), mostly a silver miner, was up almost 8% at $2.04, with its 8.3 million shares for the day already passing its average daily volume. The 52-week range is $1.21 to $3.21, and the market cap is right at $1 billion.

The SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEARCA: GLD), the largest gold ETF of them all, was last seen up 1.6% at $138.14, in a 52-week range of $111.06 to $138.64. Its total asset value is now $38.5 billion.

The gold and gold mining ETFs are surging as well. VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSEARCA: GDX) has a 52-week range of $17.28 to $29.01. Its market cap is $11.3 billion. The VanEck Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSEARCA: GDXJ) was up 5.2% at $41.47, with a $4.5 billion asset size and a 52-week trading range of $25.91 to $41.60.

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