AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (NYSE: AU) are still down 11.1% from a year ago, but the stock is up 53.5% since the end of 2015. Merrill Lynch recently maintained its Buy rating, and this one produced roughly 4.4 million ounces of gold in 2014. Its all-in sustainable cost of gold production is said to be roughly $1,100 to $1,200 per ounce, according to Morningstar. Shares were last seen trading at $10.57. The 52-week range is $5.64 to $12.44, and the consensus analyst price is $11.15. Its market cap is $4.3 billion. AngloGold Ashanti was a $50 stock in 2011.

Gold Fields Ltd. (NYSE: GFI) is still down 25% from a year ago, but the stock was up 49.8%, on last look, since the end of 2015. The stock recently was trading at $4.11, compared to a 52-week trading range $2.04 to $5.63. Its consensus analyst target is $3.93 and its market cap is $3.2 billion. This was a $15 stock in 2011.

IAMGOLD Corp. (NYSE: IAG) is still down 21% from a year ago, but the stock is up right at 41% so far in 2016. This company recently forecast that its gold output would be 770 to 800 thousand ounces (down 3% from 2015). Its preliminary 2015 total cash costs and all-in sustaining costs were put at $825 to $865 per ounce and $1,050 to $1,150 per ounce, according to Merrill Lynch in January. IAMGOLD was last seen trading at $1.97, in a 52-week range of $1.15 to $2.51, and it was a $20 stock in 2011. Its consensus target price is $1.76, and its market cap is $771 million.

Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM) was last seen up just over 5% from a year ago and was up about 40% on the nose from the last day in 2015. Newmont is also among the top gold companies in the world, and Merrill Lynch recently raised its price objective by 18% to $26.00, with a focus on two development project decisions in Ghana that could add 200,000 to 275,000 ounces of output. Shares were trading recently at $25.48, in to a 52-week trading range of $15.39 to $27.90. Its consensus analyst target is $23.33 and its market cap is $13.5 billion.

As a reminder: the top-performing stocks, particularly those up 50% to over 100%, might already be pricing in a lot of good news ahead. That being said, these stocks are all still down handily from the glory days of gold in recent years.