AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) Receives $114.00 Average Price Target from Analysts

AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $114.00.

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Zacks Research lowered shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Citigroup raised their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE AU opened at $90.75 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 2.11. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $95.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.46. AngloGold Ashanti has a 12 month low of $43.44 and a 12 month high of $129.14. The company has a market capitalization of $45.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.31 and a beta of 0.60.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. Equities research analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti will post 9.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.1%. This is a positive change from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.04%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AngloGold Ashanti

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allen Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 10.5% in the first quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 2,832 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $276,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the period. Groupe la Francaise raised its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 39.4% in the 1st quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 264,855 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $25,706,000 after buying an additional 74,855 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 93.6% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 800,951 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $77,981,000 after buying an additional 387,196 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 42.8% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,698 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 1,408 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 94.8% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 212,690 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $20,708,000 after buying an additional 103,479 shares during the period. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.