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Should You Buy Kinross Gold While it's Below $21?
Written by Aditya Raghunath at The Motley Fool Canada
While gold prices are hovering near all-time highs, several gold mining stocks are yet to gain momentum in 2025. Canadian investors have the opportunity to identify high-quality gold stocks that trade at an attractive multiple and generate substantial gains going forward.
Valued at a market capitalization of $25.3 billion, Kinross Gold (TSX:K) is a TSX-listed mining company that has returned over 625% to shareholders in the past decade.
CEO Paul Rollinson highlighted the company's exceptional 2024 performance, delivering over 2.1 million ounces of gold production while meeting all key guidance metrics. In 2024, Kinross achieved a record free cash flow of over US$1.3 billion, representing a 100% year-over-year increase, driven by strong operational performance and favourable gold prices.
Kinross demonstrated robust financial discipline by repaying US$800 million against its term loan in 2024, followed by an additional US$200 million in the first quarter (Q1), fully retiring the debt.
Kinross now maintains over US$600 million in cash and approximately US$2.3 billion in total liquidity, supporting its investment-grade balance sheet.
Key operational highlights included standout performances from flagship assets Tasiast and Paracatu, which together contributed over half of total production. The gold miner significantly advanced its development pipeline, particularly at Great Bear in Ontario, where an initial preliminary economic assessment confirmed the project's top-tier potential, with an estimated annual production of 500,000 ounces.
Looking ahead, Kinross plans to return a minimum of US$500 million to shareholders through share repurchases this year, reaffirming its commitment to creating value for shareholders.
Kinross Gold delivered robust first-quarter results, producing 512,000 gold equivalent ounces while maintaining strong margins and cash flow generation. The mining company reaffirmed its full-year guidance of two million ounces at competitive cost levels, demonstrating operational excellence across its global portfolio.
Its flagship operations performed exceptionally well during the quarter. Tasiast delivered 138,000 ounces at low production costs, driven by strong grades and improved mill recoveries following optimization initiatives.
Despite experiencing a brief mill shutdown due to a fire incident in April, operations have since resumed with minimal impact on annual production targets. Paracatu continued its solid performance with 147,000 ounces, supported by strong grades and enhanced recoveries from a recently implemented gravity circuit.
Kinross reactivated its share-buyback program and has already repurchased $60 million in shares. After including its quarterly dividend, Kinross increased total capital returns to $650 million in Q1, representing over 300% growth compared to the same period in the previous year.
Kinross continues advancing its pipeline of growth projects and mine life extensions. At Great Bear, surface construction and earthworks are progressing for the advanced exploration program, while detailed engineering has commenced for the main project's mill and infrastructure. It expects to provide resource updates for both the Curlew restart project and Round Mountain's Phase X underground development by the end of the year.
The miner's development projects across multiple jurisdictions provide substantial optionality beyond current production profiles. With strong cash flow generation at current gold prices, Kinross expects to reach a net cash position by year-end while continuing to return significant capital to shareholders.
Kinross maintains its commitment to operational excellence and financial discipline as it executes on both near-term production targets and long-term growth opportunities.
Despite its outsized gains, Kinross stock trades at a forward price-to-earnings multiple of 13 times, which is in line with its five-year average. Analysts expect adjusted earnings per share to increase from $0.68 in 2024 to $1.26 in 2026. So, if the TSX stock is priced at 13 times earnings, it will trade around $16.4 in early 2027, above the current price of $15.
The post Should You Buy Kinross Gold While it's Below $21? appeared first on The Motley Fool Canada.
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Fool contributor Aditya Raghunath has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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