With 2012 just beginning, now's a smart time to gauge how the stocks you're interested in are likely to do this year and beyond. By knowing what stock analysts and fellow investors expect from a stock, you'll be smarter about whether you should buy it for your portfolio -- or sell it if you already own it.
Today, let's take a look at Brigus Gold (AMEX: BRD). As I discussed in more detail last month, the gold miner lost about half its value in 2011 despite the price of gold bullion posting yet another rise for the year. Yet the company's mines appear poised for some spectacular production. Will 2012 be a breakout year for the miner? Below, I'll take a closer look at what people expect from Brigus Gold and its rivals.
Forecasts on Brigus Gold
| Median Target Stock Price | $1.90 |
| 2011 Normalized EPS Estimate | $0.05 |
| 2012 Normalized EPS Estimate | $0.19 |
| Expected Revenue Growth, 2012 | 72% |
| CAPS Rating (out of 5) | **** |
Source: Yahoo! Finance.
How will Brigus Gold do this year?
Analysts expect good things from Brigus Gold this year. The target stock price represents a more than 50% gain from current levels, and with both revenue and adjusted earnings expected to jump, it's easy to see Brigus breaking out of its 2011 slump this year. Motley Fool CAPS members join in the enthusiasm with a powerful four-star rating.
So far this year, Brigus and its other small-miner peers haven't disappointed, although they still have a long way to go before reaching fair value. Brigus is up more than 25% despite seeing COO Richard Allan leave the company suddenly. Primero Mining (NYSE: PPP) has risen 10%, but it remains deeply discounted compared with the potential value of its primary gold and silver resources. Paramount Gold & Silver (AMEX: PZG), meanwhile, has jumped 11% on the back of more promising assay results from its San Miguel project in Mexico.
What could throw Brigus for a loop, however, would be a drop in gold prices. With the economy starting to pick up, the bullion-targeting ETF SPDR Gold (NYSE: GLD) has underperformed mining stocks with less than a 5% gain, and higher interest rates stemming from a recovery could undermine bullion prices further. Yet problems in Europe could just as easily push gold prices higher.
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Click here to add Brigus Gold to My Watchlist, which can find all of our Foolish analysis on it and all your other stocks.
