Photograph courtesy of Newmont Mining Corporation
This article is an excerpt from Barron’s 10 favorite stocks for 2021. To see the full list, click here.
Gold remains a good hedge against ultraloose monetary policies worldwide and possible higher inflation. The metal has risen 24% this year to $1,880 an ounce, but it is way behind Bitcoin, a digital alternative, which is up 220% to more than $23,000.
One of the better ways to play gold is through mining industry leader
Newmont (ticker: NEM). At $60, its stock isn’t expensive, fetching 14 times estimated 2021 earnings of $4.15 a share and yielding 2.7%, against 1.6% for the S&P 500. Its shares have pulled back lately, along with gold, which peaked at over $2,000 an ounce in August. The shares would gain over 20% if they merely got back to their August high of $72.