Here’s a look at three fallen angels trading near their 52-week lows that could be worth buying.
(Au)Rico suave
Another week and yet another addition from the mining side of the business in AuRico Gold Inc (NYSE:AUQ). AuRico is a Canadian gold miner with land assets in Canada and Mexico, and, like many of its peers, it’s been obliterated by the falling price of gold. Relative to many of its peers, it boasts one of the highest trailing P/E ratios and its cash mining costs are roughly middle of the pack at best. Yet I believe that multiple factors are poised to send AuRico Gold Inc (NYSE:AUQ) significantly higher.
First of all, the company’s expansion of its Young-Davidson mine in Canada is going to be a big boost to AuRico Gold Inc (NYSE:AUQ)’s cash flow within the next few quarters. The mine extension is expected to yield 1.8 million ounces of gold production over just the next eight years and will certainly provide AuRico plenty of financial backing to continue paying shareholders a dividend (AuRico initiated a quarterly dividend this past quarter).
While Young-Davidson is certainly the talking point for why AuRico Gold Inc (NYSE:AUQ) could head higher in the interim, the company’s El Chanate mine in Mexico continues to provide a stabilizing force in cost controls. Even with costs rising at El Chanate to $569 per ounce from $416 per ounce in the year earlier, mine maintenance and labor costs, and well as ore grades, have tended to be stronger in Mexican mines than almost anywhere else in the world. This is one of the reasons that Goldcorp Inc. (USA) (NYSE:GG), which boasts some of the lowest cash operating costs in the mining sector, has been able to keep costs low. Goldcorp Inc. (USA) (NYSE:GG) has certainly benefited from byproducts that have helped reduce costs, but favorable ore grades and inexpensive labor have also played an important role in keeping costs down.
AuRico Gold Inc (NYSE:AUQ) may not appear a great value at 12 times forward earnings, but just watch what happens when Young-Davidson kicks into high gear!
The energy succubus
The United States might be the world’s preeminent superpower, but China is slowly going to replace the U.S. as the leader in a multitude of economic categories over the coming decade.
One area where China looks like it’ll handily swamp the U.S. is in its demand for fuel sources. Companies like Arch Coal in the U.S. have already forged extensive exporting contracts to Asia-Pacific countries like China in order to expand their own bottom lines and find demand where none currently exists in domestic markets. However, coal growth alone isn’t going to be enough to meet China’s rapidly industrializing nation, which is why PetroChina Company Limited (ADR) (NYSE:PTR) looks like an amazing deal at the moment.
PetroChina Company Limited (ADR) (NYSE:PTR) has certainly been a busy bee lately, buying into Alberta’s oil sands and entering into an agreement with ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) to purchase a stake in its liquid-natural-gas-rich Australian assets. This doesn’t even touch the tip of the iceberg on the 98.5 million tons of oil and 121.7 billion cubic feet of natural gas that the company boasted in reserves as of 2011. PetroChina Company Limited (ADR) (NYSE:PTR) is logistically poised to reap the benefits of Southeast Asia’s industrialization and should have more than ample pricing power and cash flow to expand its geographical presence around the globe. At just nine times forward earnings, I’d say PetroChina Company Limited (ADR) (NYSE:PTR) is a very attractive value play.
