AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $129.14 and last traded at $127.6510, with a volume of 1065585 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $127.77.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AU. Citigroup lifted their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.50.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Down 0.7%

The company has a current ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a market cap of $64.05 billion, a PE ratio of 24.49 and a beta of 0.55. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $101.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.89.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 20th. The mining company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.90. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 26.65% and a return on equity of 29.70%. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. As a group, analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.173 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.13%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AngloGold Ashanti

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AU. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 454.1% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 471 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

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.