(By Fred Dunsel) Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM)'s recent weekly gains came to an end last week, when the stock delivered a flat performance to close at $50.28 on Friday. Newmont Mining, which is currently down 16.7% for the year, has been steadily rising after bottoming out at $43.23 in mid-May. The mining company's lackluster stock performance was primarily due to disappointment over no indication of a new round of easing from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke during his congressional testimony. Moreover, gold has also been losing its investment appeal lately. As a reflection of growing sentiments that gold is acting less and less like a safe haven, the price of gold has been falling since its peak in late February at $1783.90 per ounce. Gold traded at $1594.70 last Friday.
Nonetheless, Newmont Mining, with a market cap of $24.8 billion, is currently one of investors' favorite gold mining companies, especially given its sound market fundamentals. It trades at an anticipated P/E ratio of 9.24, compared to the average of 11.18 for gold mining companies. Its return on investment is not too bad at 5.07%, compared with its industry peers. An overwhelming majority of analysts also rate it a "buy" or "hold".
Similarly, Goldcorp Inc. (NYSE:GG) also had a relatively flat week, falling by 0.6% to close at $39.16 on Friday. Mirroring Newmont Mining's performance, Goldcorp has been steadily rising after bottoming out at $32.16 in mid-May. The stock is currently down 10% for the year. Goldcorp, which has a market cap of $31.7 billion, now trades at a P/E ratio of 20.72.
Its BBB rating was recently reaffirmed by Fitch Ratings, which noted that the company has "substantial reserves with impressive mine lives". The company, which has a good amount of liquidity suitable for large-scale capital spending, is currently on track of reaching its goal to increase production by 70% by 2017. Moreover, given that many of its reserves are located in areas with low geopolitical risk as well as its low-cost operations, Goldcorp is believed to be one of several mining companies that would benefit substantially when gold prices rise in the future.