Royalty and streaming companies have significantly outperformed the benchmark index (GDX) as well as mining peers YTD (year-to-date). As of October 6, 2017, this group has returned 30.1% on average—significantly higher than GDX’s 12.1% and GLD’s 10.3%.

Royal Gold (RGLD) has returned the most YTD at 37.2%. Franco-Nevada (FNV) follows closely with a YTD gain of 32.1%. Sandstorm Gold (SAND) and Wheaton Precious Metals (SLW) (previously known as Silver Wheaton) have returned less than the group average at 20.3% and 2.4%, respectively.

The business model of royalty companies is usually more stable than their mining counterparts. Their cash flows are also more predictable. For this reason, analysts don’t have any “sell” ratings for any of these stocks.