Why SSR Mining Stock Popped Today

SSR Mining (NASDAQ: SSRM) stock jumped 8.5% through 11:30 a.m. ET Friday after UBS analyst George Eadie raised his price target to $42 and urged investors to buy the stock on recent weakness.

Priced under $27 per share today, the analyst is forecasting more than a 56% profit for new investors within a year.

What's up with SSR Mining stock going down?

The price of gold -- up 3.4% today -- is down 13% since the day before the Iran war began, falling from $5,248 per ounce to just $4564.60 today. SSR Mining, which mines gold, has been hit even harder, falling 17% over the same one-month period. This disparity in declines, however, is starting to get Wall Street analysts excited -- especially given the long-term prospects for gains in gold.

In a note out yesterday, Wells Fargo forecast that gold prices that topped $5,600 in January could return to those levels -- and even go farther -- as the shiny metal resumes its historical role as a store of value and a safe haven in times of global unrest. Wells believes gold prices could end this year selling between $6.100 and $6,300 an ounce -- and that depressed gold stock prices provide a "tactical" buying opportunity today.

What it means for SSR Mining stock

I agree. Priced at only 12.4 times trailing earnings, SSR Mining stock appears vastly undervalued if gold prices resume rising, as Wells Fargo predicts. What's more, working off of forward estimates, SSR stock costs less than 5 times forward earnings today -- and according to most analysts polled by S&P Global Market Intelligence, SSR's earnings will grow at 16.5% annually over the next five years.

At this valuation, SSR stock is too cheap to ignore.

Wells Fargo is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Rich Smith has positions in SSR Mining. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.