While gold has languished in a range of $1,250 to $1,350 an ounce for most of the last six months, Royal Bank of Canada sees opportunity among gold miner stocks.

According to a recent report obtained by 24/7 Wall St., RBC predicts four gold-miner stocks will gain more than 40 percent. The analysts rate all four as outperform.

• Agnico Eagle Mines (Ticker: AEM). It recently co-purchased Canada's Osisko Mining. RBC has a price target of $49, compared with its Wednesday closing price of $34.05.

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• Barrick Gold (ABX). It has raised almost $4 billion through asset sales and new equity. RBC has a price target of $25, compared with a price of $16.74 at Wednesday's close.
• Goldcorp (GG). It has focused on cost cutting in recent years. RBC has a $37 price target, compared with a price of $25.22 at Wednesday's close.
• Kinross Gold (KGC). It may be an attractive acquisition candidate for a company seeking reserves. RBC has a $5.50 price target, compared with a price of $3.69 at Wednesday's close.

Agnico, Barrick and Goldcorp also pay dividends.

"With RBC expecting gold to trade at around the $1,400 level from 2015 to 2018, solid money can be made by the savvy and well-run miners at that level," 24/7 Wall St. noted.

As for the metal itself, gold hit a three-month low Wednesday.

"Political turmoil in various parts of the world that made gold attractive earlier this year seems to have eased, and now economics is overriding geopolitical events," Frank McGhee, head dealer at Integrated Brokerage Services, told Bloomberg.

"People are moving to the dollar, as the U.S. is emerging as the safe-haven economy."

Gold fell near a three-month low early Thursday. Spot gold slipped 0.2 percent to $1,246.15 an ounce, after dropping to a three-month low of $1,243.56 in the previous session. U.S. gold futures added $1.40 an ounce at $1,246.90.

"While gold may face further pressure in the current macro environment, a pick-up in physical demand would help stem the possibility for further losses," HSBC analysts said in a note, Reuters reported. "Physical demand appears light despite gold's price decline so far in the month."

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