S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) gold stocks have been enjoying a fantastic run amid a fast-rising gold price.
It was only on 28 February that the yellow metal was trading for US$2,030 per ounce. (It was already near historic highs.)
But since then, the price of gold has shot 16% higher, fuelled by a range of factors, including expectations of lower interest rates and its safe-haven status in times of geopolitical turmoil.
Earlier today bullion was fetching all-time highs north of US$2,355 per ounce, having since retraced a touch to US$2,348 per ounce.
As you'd expect, that's been a boon to ASX 200 gold stocks.
Since 28 February, the S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Gold Index (ASX: XGD) – which also contains some smaller miners outside of the ASX 200 – has rocketed 26%, smashing the 3% gains posted by the benchmark index over this same period.
And ASX 200 gold stock Ramelius Resources Ltd (ASX: RMS) has handed investors even greater returns. The Ramelius Resources share price is up more than 39% since the closing bell on 28 February. And this is a miner with a market cap of $2.2 billion, no less.
Despite those juicy gains, there could be more to come.
A 'cheap' ASX 200 gold stock
Simon Brown, co-portfolio manager of Tribeca's Smaller Companies Strategy, singled out Ramelius Resources as the most undervalued stock in the fund's portfolio (courtesy of The Australian Financial Review).
"Management at gold producer Ramelius Resources have done a great job curating a strategy that leverages their existing mill infrastructure by adding nearby deposits through bolt-on mergers and acquisitions," Brown said of the ASX 200 gold stock.
"The stock is cheap on traditional miner metrics," he added.
According to Brown:
It has a price to net present value of 0.75 times and, with the recent multi-year breakout in gold prices, it provides further tailwinds to valuation. We see material upside from current share price levels.
What's been happening with Ramelius Resources?
Ramelius Resources released its quarterly production update last Wednesday, with shares closing up 5.3% on the day.
Among the highlights, the ASX 200 gold stock achieved record quarterly gold production of 86,928 ounces. The prior record production for a three-month period was achieved in the June 2020 quarter, when Ramelius produced 86,516 ounces of gold.
The gold miner also reported an all-time high quarterly free cash flow of $125.3 million, which saw Ramelius Resources holding net cash and gold of $407.1 million at the end of the reporting period.
