AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Trading Up 5.8% After Dividend Announcement

Shares of AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) rose 5.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $32.42 and last traded at $32.85. Approximately 616,500 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 2,385,810 shares. The stock had previously closed at $31.05.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.22. This represents a dividend yield of 2.8%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AU. StockNews.com cut shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Scotiabank upgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Down 1.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.65.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AngloGold Ashanti

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 25,411,814 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $586,504,000 after buying an additional 2,491,130 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,857,324 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $467,795,000 after acquiring an additional 3,882,283 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 2,957,304 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 274.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 3,764,165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Carrhae Capital LLP raised its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 170.0% during the fourth quarter. Carrhae Capital LLP now owns 3,459,193 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $79,838,000 after buying an additional 2,177,783 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

AngloGold Ashanti Company Profile

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.