(Bloomberg) — The world’s largest gold producer by market value says investor sentiment for the sector may finally be starting to turn after years as one of the least-loved industries.
“There’s generalist value investors out there saying ‘OK, I like looking at beaten-up sectors, this sector is really beaten up,’” Goldcorp Inc. Chief Executive Officer Chuck Jeannes said in an interview Tuesday at Bloomberg’s Toronto office. “People are trying to call the bottom.”
Jeannes said he’s been fielding more calls from unfamiliar investors and has a new entity among its top 10 shareholders. Artisan Partners, a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based investment company with more than $100 billion in assets, added 15.7 million shares in Goldcorp last year, making it the seventh-largest holder, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The Philadelphia Stock Exchange Gold & Silver Index plunged 70 percent from the start of 2011 to the end of last year. Producers struggled to contain costs and wrote off billions of dollars after prices for the metal — which had risen to more than $1,900 an ounce — began dropping in 2012. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 64 percent in the past four years.
Goldcorp fell 2.4 percent to C$25.45 at the close in Toronto. The shares, which have risen 19 percent in 2015, have dropped in the prior four years.
Gold fell 0.3 percent to settle at $1,200.90 an ounce in New York. The precious metal has climbed 1.4 percent this year.
‘Early Stages’
Artisan didn’t immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment on its Goldcorp investment.
Jeannes isn’t the only one noticing the beginnings of improving sentiment. Smaller Canadian producer Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. has also seen more interest in meetings with investors beyond its usual shareholders, CEO Sean Boyd said in an interview last month.
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