AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) Receives $32.00 Average Target Price from Brokerages

AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $32.00.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AU. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector underperform” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective (up previously from $27.00) on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Monday, August 19th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $28.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp bought a new position in AngloGold Ashanti in the 1st quarter worth $596,000. Oaktree Capital Management LP raised its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Oaktree Capital Management LP now owns 5,874,951 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $109,803,000 after buying an additional 446,132 shares in the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the second quarter worth about $2,002,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,396,216 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $75,396,000 after acquiring an additional 181,081 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 748.1% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 45,142 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,002,000 after acquiring an additional 39,819 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

NYSE AU opened at $26.95 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $11.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.42 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company’s 50 day moving average is $28.88 and its 200-day moving average is $25.90. AngloGold Ashanti has a 12-month low of $14.91 and a 12-month high of $32.57.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The mining company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.17 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.19. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.75%.

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.