AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $32.09, but opened at $31.22. AngloGold Ashanti shares last traded at $31.10, with a volume of 357,511 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on AU shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $34.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $13.65 billion, a PE ratio of 10.16 and a beta of 0.92. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $29.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The mining company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.75 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. This is a boost from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.22. This represents a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is 43.13%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AngloGold Ashanti

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AU. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 22.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,857,324 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $467,795,000 after buying an additional 3,882,283 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 274.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,133,744 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $118,448,000 after acquiring an additional 3,764,165 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 39.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,448,445 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $277,968,000 after acquiring an additional 2,957,304 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 3,767.1% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,751,410 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $63,503,000 after acquiring an additional 2,680,261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 25,411,814 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $586,504,000 after acquiring an additional 2,491,130 shares during the last quarter. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About AngloGold Ashanti

AngloGold Ashanti plc operates as a gold mining company in Africa, Australia, and the Americas. The company primarily explores for gold, as well as produces silver and sulphuric acid as by-products. Its flagship property is a 100% owned Geita mine located in the Lake Victoria goldfields of the Mwanza region in north-western Tanzania.