As 2011 comes to a close, it's a great time to look back at what happened to the stocks that interest you. By making sure you know the important things that a company accomplished -- as well as the setbacks it experienced -- you can make a better decision about whether it's a smart investment for your portfolio.
Today, let's take a look at Stillwater Mining
Stats on Stillwater Mining
Year-to-Date Stock Return | (50.8%) |
Market Cap | $1.21 billion |
Total Revenue, Trailing 12 Months | $791 million |
Net Income, Trailing 12 Months | $136 million |
1-Year Revenue Growth | 54.2% |
1-Year Profit Growth | 384.9% |
CAPS Rating (out of 5) | **** |
Sources: S&P Capital IQ; Motley Fool CAPS.
How did Stillwater Mining do this year?
Stillwater Mining operates two mines in Montana that produce platinum and palladium. Much rarer than gold, platinum group metals haven't seen quite the run-up that gold and silver have in recent years, but they've still climbed sharply.
Stillwater has been able to capitalize on those high prices with better-than-expected production as well. In its most recent quarter, the company reported 6% production volume growth, combining with higher metals prices to beat analyst estimates soundly.
But Stillwater made a move earlier this year that investors really didn't like. It paid a huge premium to buy Peregrine Metals, which owns a big gold and copper project in Argentina. Not only is the mine not yet producing any metal, but it also takes away Stillwater's status as a pure-play platinum-group metal company -- leaving only North American Palladium
Still, the popularity of platinum and palladium as alternatives to gold seems to remain strong. The ETFS Physical Platinum
Given how rough a year it was for miners like Brigus Gold
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