Gold is one of the most famous of all safe-haven assets, traditionally included in portfolios as a hedge against inflation and market turbulence. Investors have many ways to access gold—as a physical commodity in the form of jewelry or bullion, through specialized exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and indirectly via investments in the stocks of companies that mine and produce gold.
Key Takeaways
- The top gold-mining companies for February 2025, based on 30-day returns, include Harmony Gold Mining Co., Gold Fields Ltd., and AngloGold Ashanti PLC.
- Investors looking for exposure to gold without making a direct investment in the commodity itself might consider gold-mining company stocks.
- The price of gold is roughly $2,761 per ounce, just shy of an all-time high achieved in October 2024.
We explore the best gold stocks for investors to watch in February 2025, based on 30-day returns. Our screen focuses on mining companies that target gold, although many also include other precious metals. Below is a detailed explanation of the methodology we utilize to create our ranking of gold mining company stocks. All data are current as of Jan. 27, 2025.
| Best Gold Stocks to Watch in February 2025 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Â Ticker | Company | Market Cap ($B) | Price ($) | 30-Day Return (%) | P/E Ratio |
| HMY | Harmony Gold Mining Co. | 6.7 | 10.45 | 27.5 | 14.3 |
| GFI | Gold Fields Ltd. | 14.6 | 16.29 | 23.2 | 23.4 |
| AU | AngloGold Ashanti PLC | 14.1 | 27.6 | 20.2 | 338.2 |
| KGC | Kinross Gold Corp. | 13.0 | 10.58 | 15.0 | 17.6 |
| AEM | Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. | 44.8 | 89.28 | 14.7 | 44.3 |
| IAG | Iamgold Corp. | 3.3 | 5.80 | 13.7 | 4.5 |
| AGI | Alamos Gold Inc. | 8.5 | 20.29 | 11.6 | 33.6 |
| FNV | Franco-Nevada Corp. | 25.1 | 130.22 | 10.7 | N/A |
| SSRM | SSR Mining Inc. | 1.5 | 7.60 | 9.8 | N/A |
| NEM | Newmont Corp. | 47.0 | 41.25 | 9.7 | N/A |
What to Know About Investing in Gold
The price of gold was about $2,761 as of late January 2025, down just slightly from an all-time high achieved in October 2024. Ongoing inflation concerns, market instability due to domestic and international geopolitical tensions, and a shifting interest rate environment in 2024 all helped to push gold higher, as investors sought out a stable place to park assets.
While investors typically look to avoid entering a new position while it’s close to a record high, there are many reasons why it may still pay to invest in gold. First, there is no guarantee that gold will fall from its high price point. Further, it can still offer a hedge against inflation, despite the fact that gold is quite expensive. But while gold does not offer some of the benefits of stock investments—such as the prospect of dividend payments—investors looking for indirect access can find it by looking to companies involved in mining and producing this precious metal.
How We Chose the Best Gold Stocks
In our screen, we considered gold-mining companies with shares trading on the Nasdaq or the New York Stock Exchange. We excluded firms with stock prices under $5, with less than 100,000 in average daily trading volume, or with a market capitalization under $300 million. These measures help ensure that our list includes only well-established companies. Finally, we ranked all remaining gold mining companies based on highest 30-day return and excluded any with a negative return during that period.
Following this search, we found a number of gold mining companies with 30-day returns as high as 27.5%. Notably, some of the companies on this list do not have a P/E ratio. This is sometimes the result of a company experiencing net losses in the current and/or prior-year quarter, making it impossible to calculate this metric.
Gold Advantages and Disadvantages
Before investing in gold mining companies, investors should consider a few important benefits and risks. Advantages of these firms may include their potential to be a leveraged play on gold. As the price of gold rises, the share prices of these companies may rise as well—and they may experience even higher returns thanks to their crucial role in producing gold for physical investment. Rising gold prices can also lead to significant capital gains for gold mining firms when their profits increase as well. Another benefit of gold mining firms is their higher liquidity compared to physical gold. Lastly, investing in bullion, jewelry, or other physical gold products also requires paying for transportation and storage costs—not required when investing in gold mining stocks—and carries the risk of loss or theft.
One of the key potential disadvantages of an investment in a gold-mining stock is that most of these companies do not focus exclusively on gold. This means they are not pure-play gold investments and that they are also subject to fluctuations in other minerals covered by the operations as well. Mining firms tend to have operations scattered around the world in many different locations, so regulations can vary dramatically from one site to another. Monitoring the impact of these regulations can be difficult for investors. Of course, mining firms are also exposed to many other risks and factors that may separate their performance from that of physical gold. And when gold rises, there is no guarantee that the price of shares of a mining firm will also climb.
The stocks listed above are at the top of our list for this month. However, past performance is not a guarantee of any future returns.
The Bottom Line
For investors seeking an alternative to physical gold investments, gold-mining stocks offer an alternative. These companies may provide some degree of indirect access to the gold market. While their prices may correlate with the price of physical gold, that’s not always the case. Still, for some investors, the opportunity to avoid the logistical considerations, liquidity limitations, and other concerns associated with a physical investment in gold makes gold-mining firms a worthwhile alternative.
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As of the date this article was written, the author does not own any of the securities listed above.