AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $110.50.

AU has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $155.00 to $134.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Citigroup dropped their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Zacks Research downgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th.

Institutional Trading of AngloGold Ashanti

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AU. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,001,047 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,979,174,000 after acquiring an additional 252,307 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One SA Pty Ltd bought a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter valued at $1,380,472,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,386,503 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $620,874,000 after purchasing an additional 98,250 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,731,937 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $488,820,000 after purchasing an additional 26,421 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,121,189 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $436,735,000 after purchasing an additional 191,859 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of AU opened at $76.75 on Friday. AngloGold Ashanti has a 1-year low of $45.36 and a 1-year high of $129.14. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $87.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $96.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.25 and a beta of 0.65.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.25. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 31.11% and a return on equity of 36.41%. The company had revenue of $3.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti will post 8.79 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.0%. This is a boost from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.04%.

AngloGold Ashanti Company Profile

AngloGold Ashanti is a global gold mining company engaged in the exploration, development, production, processing and sale of gold. Headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, the company’s core activities span the full mining value chain from greenfield exploration and mine development through to ore processing and rehabilitation. Gold is the primary commodity produced, with individual operations sometimes yielding other by‑products depending on local geology and processing methods.

The company was formed in 2004 through the merger of AngloGold and Ashanti Goldfields, creating a diversified international gold producer.