Best Gold Stocks to Invest in 2024

Gold has been the ultimate store of value for centuries, and it’s still used by investors to hedge against market risks from recessions, inflation and world events. There’s no need to buy gold bars and coins, though, to enjoy its benefits. Gold stocks offer exposure to all the advantages, just with the flexibility of stock market investments.

The most important driver of earnings at gold miners is the gold price. As the gold price and the U.S. dollar tend to move inversely,  and the greenback is coming under pressure from the prospect of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut, this year could be a strong year for the yellow metal. The price of the gold has gained about 8% in the past month and hit an all-time high of $2,188.60 an ounce on March 13.

Gold stocks and miners have performed even better, returning 13% over the past month. In this guide, we explore the ins and outs of selecting the best gold stocks in 2024. Let’s take a look at our 10 top picks:

A Closer Look at the Top Gold Stocks Invest in

Let’s explore the investment case behind each of our top pick gold stocks.

1. Gold Fields – Best Gold Mining Stock for Long-Term Output Growth

Johannesburg-based Gold Fields has recently raised its gold production estimates for this year to between 2.33 million and 2.4 million ounces boosted by a fast ramp-up of output at its new, $1 billion Salares Norte mine in Chile, which is due to begin production in April. Gold Fields predicts that the new production site will produce 250,000 ounces of the precious metal in 2024 and 580,000 ounces in 2025. The opening of the new mine is key for keeping the company on track to its long-term company-wide output goal of 2.8 million ounces of gold a year.

The miner’s overall output fell last year after lower output from its operations in Ghana and South Africa. Its attributable gold production dropped 4% from 2022 to 2.3 million ounces. This affected its earnings in 2023, which declined 21% to $837 million. Rising costs also contributed to the profit drop. All-in-sustaining costs, a gauge of gold mining costs used by the industry, rose 17% to $1,295 per ounce.

Investors are also watching the the leadership priorities of a new CEO, industry veteran Mike Fraser, who took over for Martin Preece in January. Fraser was most recently the CEO of Chaarat Gold Holdings.

The miner declared a final dividend of ZAR 4.20 ($0.21)  per share, bringing the total payout in 2023 to ZAR 7.45 company has increased its annual dividend  for the past four years, and its current dividend yield is an above-average 2.74%.

2. Calibre Mining – Best Gold Stock for Revenue Growth

Canada-based Calibre Mining focuses on the Americas. It  operates mines in Nicaragua, and the U.S., and soon it will have a mine in Canada. Over the past five years, the company’s shares have risen nearly 230% and its annual revenue has climbed nearly 600%. Despite the excitement about the increase in gold prices, the stock doesn’t seem to be overpriced as it is trading at less than eight times earnings. Its known reserves have also increased for four consecutive years.

The miner last year had the 4th consecutive year of gold sales growth, earning $561.7 million in revenue, compared with $408.6 million a year earlier. Adjusted net income totaled $96.67 million, or $0.21 a share, compared with $51.42 million, or $0.12 a share in 2022.

Calibre’s $250 million purchase of Marathon in November should enable the company to produce roughly 500,000 ounces of gold in 2025 and 2026, the company said, more than doubling its record production level of 283,525 ounces last year.

The acquisition gave it access to the Valentine gold project in Newfoundland, Canada. With production set to begin in 2025, the project is expected to produce 195,000 ounces of gold for 12 years, beginning in 2025.

3. DRDGold – Best Gold Stock for an Above-Average Dividend

DRDGold is an outlier among gold mining companies as its method of mining, retrieving gold from reprocessed tailings, is helpful toward restoring land that has been scarred by previous mining. The company has delivered a total return of 638% over the past five years, while increasing annual revenue by 17.2% in that period.

The company expects to produce between 165,000 and 175,000 ounces of gold this fiscal year ending in June, compared with 170,00 a year earlier. Six-month revenue rose by 12% ZAR 2.9 billion ($153 million), and net income was up 10%, at $589,300.

DRDGold’s strong cash position allowed it to unveil a ZAR 0.20 interim dividend, equaling a yield of nearly 6%. The company pays its dividend in semiannual installments and has paid a dividend for 17 consecutive years.

4. Osisko Gold – Precious Metals Royalties With Impressive Margins

Osisko is an intermediate precious metal royalty company that has 23 producing assets. As its revenues come from royalties, the company is less susceptible to inflationary concerns than pure-play gold mining stocks. Most of the company’s assets are in North America, but it also has a large presence in South America and Australia, and a small presence in Africa and Europe.

Investors are also keeping an eye on changes at the helm. Osisko appointed Jason Attew as its new president and CEO at the end of last year, replacing interim CEO Paul Martin. Martin had replaced Sandeep Singh, who left the company in July.

The company’s performance lingers on two key projects. The Costa Fuego mine in Chile is expected to begin providing revenue by the middle of this year and the Namdini project in Ghana, operated in conjunction with Shandong Gold, is expected to go online toward the end of this year. Osisko predicts gold production to reach an average of 287,000 ounces per year over the project’s first 15 years.

In the fourth quarter, Osisko had revenue of CAD 44.6 million ($32.87 million), up from CAD 40.04 million a year earlier. Adjusted earnings totaled 29.39 million, or CAD 0.16 a share, compared with, CAD 30.09 million, or CAD 0.16 a share in the same quarter a year earlier. The company had a record cash margin of 93.8% in the quarter, compared with 92.4% a year earlier. Osisko has raised its quarterly dividend for three consecutive years, including a bump of 9% last year to CAD $0.06,  which represents a yield of around 1.12%.

5. Barrick Gold – Top Gold Stock for Long-Term Stability

Barrick owns six Tier One gold assets, the most of any mining company. A Tier One gold asset is a mine that has enough trdrtvrd to deliver at least for 10 more years at an annual production of at least 500,000 ounces, with lower total cash costs per ounce than the industry average. That combination results in higher margins for Barrick. The company also mines copper and is benefitting from higher prices for both metals.

Equipped with a strong balance sheet with almost no net debt, last November, Barrick spent $23.4 million to increase its stake to about 15.02% in silver mining company Hercules. It said it bough them as an investment. Barrick also unveiled a program to repurchase up to $1 billion of its own shares in 2024. The miner pays an annual dividend of $0.40 a share, giving it a yield of 2.45%.

The Canadian miner posted a 30% jump in fourth-quarter profit to $479 million, or $0.27 a share, from $368 million, or $0.21 a share, in the same period a year earlier. The results were driven by production from its Tier One mines and a record gold price. Gold production rose 1.4% from a year earlier to 1.05 million ounces with annual output of 4.05 million ounces falling short of the company’s target of between 4.2 million and 4.6 million ounces.

6. Wheaton Precious Metals – Long-Term Streaming Interests, Dividend Uptick

The Canadian company finances projects in return for a share of future precious metals production at a predetermined discounted price, known as streams. It has interests in 18 operating mines and 27 development stage projects, including a gold stream of Vale’s Salobo mine and silver streams of Glencore’s Antamina mine in Peru and Newmont Corporation’s Peñasquito mine in Mexico.

Its asset portfolio of streaming interests has an estimated remaining life of at least 30 years. The company, which faces no capital costs, forecasts a 40% production growth to over 800,000 ounces by 2028, primarily due to growth from operating mines, including Salobo, Antamina, Peñasquito, Voisey’s Bay and Marmato, as well as some developing sites.

The Vancouver, Canada-based company said that based on the 2023 financial results it’s shifting to a progressive dividend policy from distributing 30% of the previous four quarters’ average operating cash flows. As a first move, it unveiled a 3.3% uptick in its first-quarter dividend to $0.155, giving it a yield of 1.40%.

In the fourth quarter, revenue rose 32.8% to $313.47 million. The increase from the year earlier was driven by a 17% growth in the ounces of precious metals sold and a 13% the realised gold price. Net income, adjusted for one-off items, rose 58.6% to $164.57 in the quarter from a year earlier. Adjusted EPS was 36.3 U.S. cents versus 22.9 U.S. cents a year earlier.  The company has no debt and at the end of the third quarter it had $547 million in cash,  after making total upfront cash payments of $452 million for mineral stream interests in the quarter.

7. Lundin Gold – Paying Down Debt Gives It Flexibility

Lundin Gold paid off a senior debt facility during the course of 2023 and this will give it more flexibility to embrace new projects. Its Fruta del Norte gold mine in Ecuador is one of the highest-grade gold mines in the world, and it has an estimated life of 11 remaining years.

In the fourth quarter, Lundin Gold reported revenue of $190.69 million, down from $210.96 million in the same quarter a year earlier. Net income adjusted for one-time items, was little changed from a year earlier at $33.24 million. Adjusted EPS stayed level at $0.14.

The company experienced higher costs than usual, but it continues to be among the more profitable gold mining companies. In 2023, it produced 481,274 ounces of gold at an all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of $860 per ounce sold, meeting its production guidance of 450,000 to 485,000 ounces and AISC target of $820 to $870 per ounce sold.

Lundin Gold’s dividend payments of $0.542 from 2023 earnings delivers a yield of around 3.11%, with a payout ratio of 46%.

8. Dundee Precious Metals – Underpriced Gem of a Gold Stock

Canada-based gold mining company with operations and projects located in Bulgaria, Namibia, Ecuador and Serbia. Dundee had a strong fourth quarter with revenue rising 23% to $133,3 million, driven by record production of 35,200 ounces of gold at its Ada Tepe mine in Bulgaria.

Earnings adjusted for some non-recurring items rose 66% to $55.5 million from $33.3 million a year earlier. Adjusted EPS grew 72% to $0.31 from $0.18 in the same quarter a year earlier. Despite this solid earnings growth, the stock is trading at a P/E ratio of less than 8, indicating that it may be undervalued given its earnings growth potential. The company’s quarterly dividend of $0.04 equates to a yield of around 2.15%, but with a low payout ratio there’s room for growth.

As for production outlook, Dundee expects gold production to average about 240,000 ounces per year over the next three years,, based on current mine plans, including a forecasted reduction in 2026 as Ada Tepe reaches the end of its mine life. The outlook for production will be updated following the completion of the ongoing acquisition of the Osino site, targeted for the first half of 2024.

9. Royal Gold – Consistent Dividend Growth, Diversified Royalty Portfolio

Gold mine royalty streaming firms such as Royal Gold finance gold mining operations, so it they benefit from higher interest rates. Royal Gold owns interests in 181 properties on five continents, including 39 operating mines and 22 projects in development across North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Australia. In 2023,  76% 0f its revenue came from gold, 12% from silver and 9% from copper.

Royal Gold, in the fourth quarter, posted revenue of $152.67 million, down from $162.98 million in the same quarter a year earlier. Even so, EPS, adjusted for some non-recurring items, was $0.95 compared with $0.91 a year earlier. Operating cash flow was reported as $101.1 million, little changed from a year earlier. During the course of 2023, the company said it paid down its debt by $75 million to $325 million.

The royalty streaming firm has increased its quarterly dividend every year since 2001, including a recent 7% bump to $0.40 a share, equaling a yield of around 1.45%. Its payout ratio of about 50% would leave room for the company to raise its dividend for the 24th consecutive year.

10. Newmont Corporation – The Largest Gold Miner That’s Still Growing

Newmont, the world’s largest gold miner and the only one that’s included in the S&P 500 index, completed its purchase of Australian mining company Newcrest Mining for $15 million in November, and now it has 17 operations across nine countries, including more than half of the world’s Tier 1 gold mines. Roughly 80% of its operations are in the stable locations of North America and Australia.

However, the costs related to the Newcrest acquisition and also strike action at its Peñasquito mine weighed on its financial results in 2023. The company posted a full-year net loss of $2.47 billion, as its took $1.9 billion in impairment charges, $1.5 bilion in reclamation charges, and a charge of $464 million related to the Newcrest takeover and the costs of its integration.

Net income for the full year adjusted for those charges also declined to $1.35 billion from $1.46 billion in 2022. Revenue for the year remained little changed at $11.81 billion.

Even so, the company said it expects to save $500 million in costs directly as a result of the Newcrest takeover by the end of 2025. Newmont has recently reduced its quarterly dividend to $0.25 from $0.40, and has a dividend yield of 3.13%.

Where to Invest in Gold Stocks

The best way to invest in gold stocks is through an online stock broker like eToro.

At eToro, you can invest in dozens of gold and mining stocks from the U.S., Canada, South Africa, Australia, and more. It has one of the largest global stock selections of any major broker, offering more than 5000 tradable assets in total.

Regulated by leading bodies in the U.S., U.K. and Europe, eToro even has gold ETFs like the VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF, which includes shares of several of the stocks we highlighted above.

You’ll pay no commission to buy and sell gold stocks at eToro, making it one of the most competitive platforms on the market. There are no deposit fees and the minimum amount to open an account is just $100, depending on your country. eToro is available in more than 100 countries.

eToro offers a wide range of trading tools to help you find the best opportunities to invest in gold stocks. You get access to user-friendly technical charts, dozens of built-in indicators, and a sentiment tracker that tells you whether other eToro users are buying or selling a company’s shares.

In addition, you can automatically copy the portfolios of more experienced gold investors at eToro. Every time they buy or sell a stock, your account will match their order. This is a good option for investors who want to take a more hands-off approach to gold investing.

Why Invest in Gold Stocks?

There are plenty of advantages in investing in the best gold stocks, rather than in physical gold, such gold bullion like bars and coins. Gold stocks will give you many of the benefits of owning physical gold without the without the complications. You can buy stocks directly from your broker and there’s no need to find safe storage, as you would with physical gold bullion. The entry price to invest in gold stocks is often lower than scraping up $2,000 or more for an ounce of gold.

Gold stocks tend to be more diverse than just buying gold – gold bullion or other forms of physical gold. Companies involved in extracting the precious metal or other stages of the gold industry vary from mining companies and gold streaming companies to gold-focused exchange traded funds (ETFs). Either way, all three types of gold stocks benefit from the rise in gold prices. Also, many of the stocks included in our list offer a dividend.

Some well-known gold ETFs include:

• the SPDR Gold Shares ETF (GLD): The fund seeks to offer investors a means of participating in the gold bullion market without the necessity of taking physical delivery of gold.
• the iShares Gold Trust ETF (IAU): Owned by Blackrock, it seeks to reflect the preformance of the price of gold
• the abrdn Physical Gold Shares ETF: It seeks to reflect the performance of the price of gold bullion, less the Trust’s expenses.

Now, let’s look at the main advantages in detail: