Buy Yamana, hold onto Alamos Gold

Article Excerpt

YAMANA GOLD $6.91 (Toronto symbol YRI; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (416-815-0220; www. yamana.com; Shares outstanding: 947.2 million; Market cap: $6.7 billion; Dividend yield: 0.4%) owns and operates 10 gold mines in Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Argentina. It also holds a 12.5% stake in the Alumbrera copper/ gold mine in Argentina, and has a number of other properties in advanced stages of development. In February 2016, Yamana bought the Riacho dos Machados gold mine in Brazil for $51 million. This open-pit operation produces 100,000 ounces per year. In the three months ended June 30, 2016, the company’s overall gold production rose 6.6%, to 313,086 ounces from 293,707 a year earlier. The increase was the result of higher output at some of Yamana’s smaller mines, plus the contributions of Riahco dos Machados. Gold prices rose 6.0% in the latest quarter. That, plus the higher production, pushed up Yamana’s cash flow by 35.3%, to $150.5 million from $176.7 million. (All figures except share…