12 Best Gold Dividend Stocks To Buy Now

Published on December 6, 2023 at 4:05 pm by Fahad Saleem in Hedge Funds, News

In this article, we will take a look at the 12 Best Gold Dividend Stocks To Buy Now.

Gold recently jumped to record highs and the precious metal is on track to see its best annual performance since 2020. Investors are piling into gold and gold stocks like Newmont Corporation (NYSE:NEM), Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) and Kinross Gold Corporation (NYSE:KGC) amid several factors, including expectations that the Fed might start cutting interest rates in 2024, a decline in real yields and weakening dollar. But the underlying factor fueling the popularity of gold remains constant: investors are buying gold amid uncertainty about the future path of economy. While the US economy was able to avoid a recession in 2023, what lies ahead is still up for debate. A latest Wall Street Journal report cited Nicky Shiels, metals strategist at MKS PAMP, who said that gold has become a “proxy” for the Federal Reserve’s rate cut expectations and “general unhappiness.”

Another important catalyst for gold prices is rising interest in the precious metal from central banks. Central banks around the world bought a whopping 1,100 metric tons of gold this year, which account for about 30% of the world’s mining production.

Perhaps one of the biggest catalysts for gold prices in 2023 was geopolitical instability, caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and tensions in the Middle East. Gold is a highly sought-after asset and investors flock to it during times of geopolitical tensions.

Wisdom Tree in its gold outlook report for 2024 painted a bull case for gold and said:

“In this scenario the Federal Reserve reacts to the recession warning signs and pivots away from its higher for longer mantra. If the US central bank signals it will begin monetary expansion in 2024 by end of 2023, bond yields will be falling and assuming it moves before the European Central Bank and other major central banks, we could see the US Dollar depreciate at a faster rate. If recession does materialise, we expect inflation will fall below target levels. Assuming that the recession fears that the Fed is responding to are real, we expect positioning in gold futures to remain elevated. In this scenario, gold could reach US$2,300/oz. That would be 12% higher than the all-time nominal high reached in August 2020, and about 7% below that in real terms. However, it would be 33% below the all-time real high reached in 1980.”

Methodology

Dividends and gold is a match made in heaven for risk-averse investors. Amid uncertainty about the future and the constant need to hedge against inflation and risks, now is the right time to see which gold stocks that also pay dividends are on the radar of smart money investors. We scanned Insider Monkey’s database of 910 hedge funds and picked 12 gold stocks that pay dividends with the highest number of hedge fund investors

Photo by Gold-bar-jingming-pan on Unsplash

12. SSR Mining Inc. (NASDAQ:SSRM)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 14

SSR Mining Inc. (NASDAQ:SSRM) ranks 12th in our list of the best gold dividend stocks to buy according to hedge funds. The stock’s dividend yield is about 2.4%. Last month, SSR Mining Inc. (NASDAQ:SSRM) posted Q3 results. Adjusted EPS in the period came in at $0.26. Revenue in the quarter jumped about 131% year over year to $385.39 million.

As of the end of the third quarter of 2023, 14 hedge funds out of the 910 funds tracked by Insider Monkey reported owning stakes in SSR Mining Inc. (NASDAQ:SSRM).

11. Sibanye Stillwater Limited (NYSE:SBSW)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 16

Sibanye Stillwater Limited (NYSE:SBSW) is a high dividend yield stock in our list of the best gold dividend stocks to buy according to hedge funds. Last month, Sibanye Stillwater Limited (NYSE:SBSW) revealed plans to restructure its U.S. platinum group metals operations to reduce costs. As part of the plan, Sibanye Stillwater Limited (NYSE:SBSW) eyes cutting 300 jobs.

A total of 16 hedge funds out of the 910 funds tracked by Insider Monkey had stakes in Sibayne Stillwater. The most notable stakeholder of Sibanye Stillwater Limited (NYSE:SBSW) was Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management, which owns a $31 million stake in the company.

10. Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd (NYSE:OR)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 18

Canadian-based Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd (NYSE:OR) owns royalties in gold, silver and diamond mines. Last month, Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd (NYSE:OR) declared a quarterly dividend of CAD 0.06/share quarterly dividend, in line with the previous.

As of the end of the third quarter of 2023, 18 hedge funds in Insider Monkey’s database of 910 funds were long OR. The most significant stake in Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd (NYSE:OR) belongs to Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, which owns a $104 million stake in Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd (NYSE:OR).

9. B2Gold Corp (NYSE:BTG)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 19

Another Canadian mining company on our list, B2Gold Corp (NYSE:BTG) in September said it agreed to buy AngloGold Ashanti’s (AU) 50% stake in the Gramalote project in Colombia for as much as $60 million. B2Gold Corp (NYSE:BTG) will have full ownership of the project after this deal.

Out of the 910 hedge funds in Insider Monkey’s database, 19 hedge funds reported owning stakes in B2Gold as of the end of the September quarter. The biggest stakeholder of B2Gold Corp (NYSE:BTG) was John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors which owns a $34 million stake in B2Gold Corp (NYSE:BTG).

Like BTG, hedge funds are also piling into Newmont Corporation (NYSE:NEM), Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) and Kinross Gold Corporation (NYSE:KGC).

8. Pan American Silver Corp (NYSE:PAAS)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 22

Pan American Silver Corp (NYSE:PAAS) operates gold and silver mines in the Americas.

As of the end of the third quarter of 2023, 22 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey had stakes in Pan American Silver Corp (NYSE:PAAS). The biggest stakeholder in Pan American Silver Corp (NYSE:PAAS) was David Greenspan’s Slate Path Capital, which owns a $76 million stake in Pan American Silver Corp (NYSE:PAAS).

Pan American Silver Corp (NYSE:PAAS) talked about its guidance and business updates during Q3 earnings call:

“Given year-to-date production and our outlook for the next two months, we are reaffirming our annual 2023 guidance ranges for silver and gold production with the expectation that production for both will come in at the low end of the ranges. We expect the gold segment cash costs and all-in sustaining costs to be within our guidance ranges from 2023. We expect silver segment cash costs and all-in sustaining costs to be marginally above our guidance range largely due to ventilation constraints at La Colorada I mentioned earlier, and the two weeks expansion of operations at that mine in early October to address security concerns as previously disclosed. We are maintaining our 2023 guidance for base metal production and sustaining and project capital expenditures as well.

We reported a net loss of $22.7 million in Q3 or a basic loss per share of $0.06. Adjusted earnings were $3.1 million or $0.01 per share. Operating cash flow was $114.6 million, net of $35.8 million taxes paid. Including the cash dividend of $0.10 per common share we declared yesterday, we will have paid $130.5 million in total dividends this year.”

Read the full earnings call transcript here.

7. Royal Gold, Inc. (NYSE:RGLD)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 23

With a dividend yield of 1.32% as of December 5, Royal Gold, Inc. (NYSE:RGLD) is a Colorado-based precious metal streaming and royalties company. Last month, Royal Gold, Inc. (NYSE:RGLD) upped its dividend by 6.7%. The new dividend is payable on January 19.

A total of 23 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey entered the fourth quarter of 2023 with RGLD shares in their portfolios. The biggest stakeholder of the Royal Gold, Inc. (NYSE:RGLD) was Jean-Marie Eveillard’s First Eagle Investment Management, which owns a $386 million stake in Royal Gold, Inc. (NYSE:RGLD).

The company during its Q3 earnings call talked about several project updates and future plans:

For 2024, Centerra expects higher levels of gold and similar levels of copper production compared to 2023 guidance levels. Also at Mount Milligan, Centerra has launched an asset optimization review to assess productivity and cost efficiency opportunities alongside mine optimization. And their goal is to drive incremental operational improvements. We expect the review to be completed in 2024.

At Pueblo Viejo equipment design deficiencies impacted ramp-up of the expansion budget during the quarter and gold production was impacted by lower ore grade process due to the mine sequencing as well as lower mill through some recovery associated with the commissioning of the mill. Barrick is working to address these issues. Approximately 81,000 ounces of silver were deferred during the quarter and the total deferred amount was 69,8000 ounces at the end of September. We don’t expect any material deliveries of deferred ounces for the remainder of the year, while the expansion was commissioned and ramps up to full production levels and we expect it will take several quarters to deliver the entire deferred amount after the plant is running at full capacity.

Read the full earnings call transcript here.

6. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 24

Yet another Canadian company on our list, Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) has a dividend yield of 1.23%. As of the end of the third quarter of 2023, 24 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey reported owning stakes in Wheaton Precious Metals. The biggest stakeholder of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) was Jean-Marie Eveillard’s First Eagle Investment Management, which owns an $851 million stake in the company.

Last month, Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) posted third quarter results. Adjusted EPS in the period came in at $0.268. Revenue in the quarter jumped about 2% year over year to $223.14 million, missing estimates by $25.29 million.

The company’s CEO Randy Smallwood talked about the company’s dividend policy while answering a question during Q3 earnings call:

And so we’ve always been about the money, if it’s not going into accretive new acquisitions, it’s going to go back to the shareholders. And we’ve got good strong cash flows. We’re seeing outperformance in a number of other assets. And so we’re falling into our guidance range. We’re comfortable with our year guidance, 2023 guidance. And so I don’t think — to be honest, I think that the strength of the rest of the portfolio is — it hasn’t had an impact in terms of how we’re thinking on the dividend side.

And so the dividend is a good strong dividend. I think I believe it pays the highest yield in the space, at least amongst the senior streamers. And so it’s a good, strong dividend policy, but we’ve got plenty of capacity. We can see that in the balance sheet in terms of what we’ve done. And so I don’t think it’s it hasn’t had an impact on that front. And I think it’s probably — if we don’t bump it, it’s probably because Haythem keeps on finding great ways to spend it.

Read the full earnings call transcript here.

Like Wheaton, hedge funds also like Newmont Corporation (NYSE:NEM), Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) and Kinross Gold Corporation (NYSE:KGC).

5. Franco Nevada Corp (NYSE:FNV)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 27

Toronto, Canada-based gold royalties and streaming company Franco Nevada Corp (NYSE:FNV) ranks 5th in our list of the best gold dividend stocks to buy according to hedge funds. During the third quarter, the Franco Nevada Corp’s (NYSE:FNV) adjusted EPS came in at $0.91, beating estimates by $0.02. Revenue jumped 1.7% year over year to $309.5 million, missing estimates by $13.84 million.

Last month, Franco Nevada Corp (NYSE:FNV) declared a quarterly dividend of $0.34/share quarterly dividend, in line with the previous. Dividend yield came in at 1.13%.

4. Kinross Gold Corp (NYSE:KGC)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 29

Gold and silver mining company Kinross Gold Corporation (NYSE:KGC) has a dividend yield of over 2%. Last month, Kinross Gold Corporation (NYSE:KGC) posted strong Q3 results. Adjusted EPS in the period came in at $0.12, beating estimates by $0.02. Revenue in the quarter jumped about 28.4% year over year to $1.1 billion, surpassing estimates by $30 million.

Insider Monkey’s database of 910 hedge funds shows that 29 funds had stakes in Kinross Gold Corporation (NYSE:KGC). The biggest stakeholder of Kinross Gold Corporation (NYSE:KGC) during this period was Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management, which owns a $30.2 million stake in the Kinross Gold Corporation (NYSE:KGC).

3. Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 36

Ranking 3rd in our list of the best gold dividend stocks is copper and gold mining company Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD). In November, the Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) posted Q3 results. Adjusted EPS in the period came in at $0.24, beating estimates by $0.04. Revenue in the quarter jumped 13% year over year to $2.86 billion.

In the Q3 earnings call, the Barrick Gold Corp’s (NYSE:GOLD) management talked about pipeline projects:

Across the U.S., our teams are hunting for and securing significant early stage opportunities to feed into our project pipeline. In Western Nevada, Phase 1 drilling has been completed at Pearl Stream with Phase 2 scheduled to start soon. Further north, at the advanced Donnan project in Alaska, which boasts a very large resource, we are progressing key work streams to continue moving it up the value curve as detailed in this slide. And in Canada, fieldwork was successfully conducted on three properties, building confidence and advancing each project towards testing priority target concepts. We move now to Latin America and the Asia Pacific region, where we have been expanding our exploration portfolio. The main focus, however, has been, as I mentioned in the introduction, on the ramp up of the expanded Pablo Viejo Mine and the updating of the RekoDiq.

At the time of the merger, the Tier 1 Pueblo Viejo asset was destined to stop mining this year and processing by 2030, constrained as it was by low grades and a lack of tailings capacity. A visionary expansion project has unlocked to optimize 20,000,000 ounces of reserves, extending the mine’s life well beyond 2040 at an average annual production rate in excess of 800,000 ounces. A project of this size always comes with risks and challenges.

Read the full earnings call transcript here.

2. Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd (NYSE:AEM)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 38

Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd (NYSE:AEM) has a dividend yield of 2.99% as of December 5.

As of the end of the third quarter of 2023, 38 hedge funds were long AEM. The biggest stakeholder of the Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd (NYSE:AEM) was Jean-Marie Eveillard’s First Eagle Investment Management, which owns a $283 million stake in the Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd (NYSE:AEM).

1. Newmont Corporation (NYSE:NEM)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 49

With a 3.95% dividend yield and 49 hedge fund investors as of the end of September, Newmont Corporation (NYSE:NEM) tops our list of the best gold dividend stocks to buy now.

In October, the Newmont Corporation (NYSE:NEM) posted Q3 results. Adjusted EPS in the period came in at $0.36. Revenue fell 5% year over year to $2.5 billion.