Nearly half of TSX30 ranking are mining companies

Fourteen, or nearly half, of the Toronto Stock Exchange’s 30 top performers on the TSX30 2020 ranking are mining companies, TMX Group reported on Tuesday.

The ranking showcases TSX’s 30 top-performing stocks that represent sustained excellence over the long-term. Founded in 2019, the TSX30 ranks stocks based on dividend-adjusted share price appreciation over a three-year period.

Mining companies in this year’s rankings posted an average three-year share price performance of 223%. The average for this year’s cohort of all 30 companies was 242%, generating a market capitalization increase of $221 billion.

“The TSX30 demonstrates the strength of the Canadian capital markets ecosystem and the ability of Canadian companies to compete globally, despite unique circumstances,” said TMX Group’s Richard Goodman, head of capital development at the Toronto Stock Exchange and the TSX Venture Exchange.

The TMX Group also noted that one-third of this year’s top-performing companies were also on last year’s list, “which supports the notion that companies with strong fundamentals that excelled pre-Covid can also perform well during times of crises,” the group said.

The mining companies on this year’s list are: Kirkland Lake Gold (TSX: KL) (363%); Alacer Gold (TSX: ASR) (349%); International Tower Hill Mines (TSX: ITH) (292%); Wesdome Gold Mines (TSX: WDO) (285%); Dundee Precious Metals (TSX: DPM) (273%); Teranga Gold (TSX: TGZ) (250%); Trilogy Metals (TSX: TMQ) (238%); Orla Mining (TSX: OLA) (192%); Champion Iron (TSX: CIA) (169%); Sandstorm Gold (TSX: SSL) (160%); Wheaton Precious Metals (TSX: WPM) (144%); Yamana Gold (TSX: YRI) (142%); Lundin Gold (TSX: LUG) (132%); and SSR Mining (TSX: SSRM) (130%).

In addition, Sprott Inc. (TSX: SII), a significant investor in the mining and metals industry, posted an average three-year performance of 143%.

The Toronto Stock Exchange launched its inaugural TSX30 in 2019. Repeat performers this year from the mining sector were: Kirkland Lake Gold, Trilogy Metals and Wesdome.

Dean McPherson, head of global mining business development at the TMX Group, noted that seven of the fourteen mining companies on the list this year are graduates from the TSX Venture Exchange.

“These companies started off on the TSX Venture Exchange and eventually graduated to the TSX and it’s important to highlight the robustness of the TSX Venture Exchange,” he said in an interview. “We have the most robust two-tiered global mining public markets and the TSX30 highlights this pedigree.”

Commenting more generally on the number of mining companies on the list this year, McPherson said investors have apparently started to realize the tremendous opportunities within the sector, pointing to the three-year average share price performance (223%) for mining companies on this year’s list.

“It seems just a perfect storm where a lot of efforts in the mining sector are now being recognized by more investors and importantly generalist investors, who may be challenged to find investment opportunities with better upside potential; considering global macro/micro economics as well as the fundamentals of the sector in terms of supply and demand,” he noted.

“Over the last few years mining companies have been steadily transforming; fixing missteps of the past with improved balance sheets; governance issues and corporate social responsibility; and perhaps investors are now evaluating mining companies not only for their exposure to commodities but as well-managed investment opportunities with tremendous value and growth opportunities.”