Monthly Dividend Stock In Focus: Fortitude Gold Corporation

Updated on March 31st, 2025 by Nathan Parsh

Monthly dividend stocks are great candidates for income-oriented investors’ portfolios. They distribute their dividends monthly and offer a smoother income stream.

In addition, many of these stocks are laser-focused on maximizing their distributions to their shareholders.

You can download our full Excel spreadsheet of all monthly dividend stocks (along with metrics that matter like dividend yields and payout ratios) by clicking on the link below:

In this article, we will analyze the prospects of Fortitude Gold Corporation (FTCO), a high-quality monthly dividend stock.

Business Overview

Fortitude Gold is a U.S.-based gold producer that generates ~95% of its revenue from gold and targets projects with low operating costs, high returns on capital, and wide margins.

The company targets high-grade gold open pit heap leach operations averaging one gram per tonne of gold or greater. Its property portfolio currently consists of 100% ownership in seven high-grade gold properties.

All seven properties are within an approximate 30-mile radius of one another within the prolific Walker Lane Mineral Belt. The company generated over $37 million in revenues last year, most of which were from gold.

Source: Investor Presentation

On February 25th, 2025, Fortitude Gold posted its Q4 results for the period ending December 31st, 2024. Revenue for the year was $37.3 million, 49% lower than last year.

The revenue decline was driven by a 58% drop in the number of ounces of gold sold. Silver sales volumes fell 22%, even as prices increased 18% to $27.56 per ounce.

As Fortitude Gold generates essentially all of its revenue from gold, it is obviously highly sensitive to the cycles of the price of gold. The average price of gold increased 22% year-over-year to $2,371 per ounce, down slightly from an all-time high of $2,500 per ounce.

Moving to the bottom line, the company recorded a mine gross profit of $18.3 million compared to $41.2 million in 2023 due to lower net sales.

Therefore, the company reported a net loss of $2 million versus a net income of $17 million in 2023. On a per-share basis, net loss was $0.08 compared to net income of $0.71 for the prior period.

We believe the company’s EPS power potential is about $0.60 for 2025. However, EPS in FY2024 could be lower at $0.48.

Growth Prospects

Fortitude Gold’s outlook has been clouded as it awaits regulatory agency permits to mine deeper in the Isabella Pearl deposit.

Additionally, the company is still awaiting permit approval to build its second mine, its County Line project.

Source: Investor Presentation

Therefore, FTCO stock is a high-risk, high-reward situation. On one hand, rising gold prices and improved operating processes can significantly enhance the company’s financial performance amid higher profit margins.

On the other hand, declining gold prices and rising expenses, could negatively affect profitability. Furthermore, high gold prices weren’t enough to help the company turn a profit in 2023.

On the bright side, inflation has persisted, and with the Federal Reserve unlikely to lower interest rates in the near-term, gold prices are likely to remain high.

This bodes well for the price of gold, and by extension FTCO, for the foreseeable future.

Competitive Advantages & Recession Performance

Gold producers are infamous for their cyclicality, which is caused by the wild swings in the price of gold. Fortitude Gold is inevitably vulnerable to these cycles,but it is an above-average gold producer thanks to some key characteristics.

Its properties also feature exceptionally high-ore grade and near-surface deposits, resulting in low-cost operations relative to its peers.

Additionally, the balance sheet is pristine, with $122.1 million in total assets against just $14 million in total liabilities, resulting in a strong equity value of $108.1 million.

Moreover, Fortitude Gold enjoys another key competitive advantage: namely, the exceptional grade of Isabella Pearl Mine.

As a result, Fortitude Gold is much more profitable than most of its peers at a given gold price and is one of the most resilient gold producers to price downturns.

It is also worth noting that the price of gold often rises during recessions, as the precious metal is considered a safe haven during selloffs of the stock market. This means that Fortitude Gold is likely to perform well during recessions.

Dividend Analysis

Income investors should avoid gold stocks in principle due to the high cyclicality that results from the swings of the price of gold. It is not accidental that there are no gold producers in the list of Dividend Aristocrats.

On the other hand, Fortitude Gold has some attractive features for dividend investors. It offers a monthly dividend of $0.04, corresponding to an annualized dividend yield of 9.8%. This is the highest dividend yield in the group of precious metals producers.

In addition, Fortitude Gold’s expected payout ratio for the year is 80%, which is not ideal but reasonable given the asset’s high quality.

Furthermore, the gold producer’s healthy balance sheet means that the dividend is likely to remain safe for the foreseeable future.

Conversely, investors should always be aware of commodity producers’ vulnerability to commodity cycles.

If the price of gold enters a prolonged downturn at some point in the future, Fortitude Gold’s dividend is likely to come under pressure. Gold producers need to spend significant amounts on capital expenses to replenish their reserves.

Final Thoughts

Gold producers are highly cyclical and should, therefore, be avoided by most income investors, who cannot stomach a volatile stock price and a potential dividend cut.

While Fortitude Gold is highly sensitive to the cycles of the gold price, it has some unique advantages. Its strong balance sheet makes it much easier to endure the downturns of this business.

The stock also offers the highest dividend yield in its peer group and pays its dividend monthly. Therefore, it is an appealing (albeit risky) stock for income investors who want to gain exposure to gold.

Don’t miss the resources below for more monthly dividend stock investing research.

And see the resources below for more compelling investment ideas for dividend growth stocks and/or high-yield investment securities.