In light of gold prices reaching near six-year highs, the Aggregated Portfolio found the most-broadly-held metals and mining stocks owned by gurus as of the second quarter were Barrick Gold Corp. (GOLD, Financial), Nucor Corp. (NUE, Financial), Anglogold Ashanti Ltd. (AU, Financial), Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. (AEM, Financial), Newmont Goldcorp Corp. (NEM, Financial) and Cameco Corp. (CCJ, Financial).
Gold prices reach near six-year high
As the U.S. market grapples with volatile swings stemming from the ongoing U.S.-China trade war, which escalated over the past weekend, gold prices have reached near a six-year high as investors seek safe investments.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 25,777.90 on Tuesday, down 120.93 points from Monday’s close of 25,898.83 and approximately 56.05 points off its intraday low of 25,721.85. Despite this, the Dow reached an intraday high of 26,054.02 near market open.
Figure 1 illustrates the daily close and day-to-day changes of the Dow throughout the month to date.
Figure 1
As Figure 1 illustrates, most of the daily Dow changes from Aug. 2 to Aug. 26 have a magnitude of over 300, suggesting high market volatility.
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Barrick Gold
Eleven gurus own shares of Barrick Gold with a combined weight of 10.39%. Duquesne Family Office leader Stanley Druckenmiller (Trades, Portfolio) purchased 3,980,100 shares during the second quarter, giving the position 1.86% equity portfolio weight.
The Toronto-based gold producer said on Aug. 12 it produced 1.353 million ounces of gold during the second quarter, in line with the production in the prior quarter, driven by strong performance at Loulo-Gounkoto in Mali and Veladero in Argentina. CEO Mark Bristow said management expects production for the year to be near the upper range of the guidance.
GuruFocus ranks Barrick Gold’s financial strength 5 out of 10: Although the company has a solid Piotroski F-score of 5, its debt ratios underperform over 51% of global competitors.
Nucor
Eleven gurus own shares of Nucor with a combined weight of 2.16%. Gurus with large holdings in Nucor include Pioneer Investments (Trades, Portfolio), the T Rowe Price Equity Income Fund (Trades, Portfolio) and Ray Dalio (Trades, Portfolio)’s Bridgewater Associates.
The Charlotte, North Carolina-based company produces a wide variety of steel products using air furnaces. GuruFocus ranks Nucor’s profitability 8 out of 10 on several positive signs, which include a strong Piotroski F-score of 9 and operating margins that are near a 10-year high of 13.70% and outperform 86.24% of global competitors.
Anglogold Ashanti
Ten gurus own shares of Anglogold Ashanti with a combined weight of 6.15%. Gurus with holdings in the South African gold producer include John Paulson (Trades, Portfolio) and Howard Marks (Trades, Portfolio)’ Oaktree Capital Management.
GuruFocus ranks Anglogold Ashanti’s financial strength 6 out of 10: The company has a solid Piotroski F-score of 6 and good interest coverage of 10 despite a moderately weak Altman Z-score of 2.32.
Agnico Eagle Mines
Ten gurus own shares in Agnico Eagle Mines with a combined weight of 5.73%.
Agnico Eagle Mines operates gold mines in Canada, Mexico and Finland. GuruFocus ranks the company’s financial strength 5 out of 10: Although the return on invested capital exceeds its weighted average cost of capital, suggesting capital creation, Agnico Eagle Mines has a weak Piotroski F-score of 3 and interest coverage below Benjamin Graham’s safe threshold of 5.
Newmont Goldcorp
Nine gurus own shares of Newmont Goldcorp with a combined weight of 6.67%.
The Greenwood Village, Colorado-based company said on July 25 that attributable gold production for the June quarter increased 37% year over year to 1.59 million ounces, driven primarily by new production from Goldcorp and higher production at Merian and Tanami. GuruFocus ranks Newmont’s financial strength 5 out of 10: While the company has a weak Piotroski F-score of 3 and a poor Altman Z-score of 1.51, its debt ratios are underperforming just 57% of global competitors.
Cameco
Nine gurus own shares of Cameco with a combined weight of 5.61%.
The Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based company produces uranium and operates uranium conversion and fabrication facilities. GuruFocus ranks Cameco’s financial strength 6 out of 10: Even though the company’s Altman Z-score is a poor 1.82, Cameco has a solid Piotroski F-score of 5 and an equity-to-asset ratio that outperforms 53.68% of global competitors.
Disclosure: No positions.
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