AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $113.14

AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the ten research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation, five have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $113.14.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AU. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $111.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $128.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of AngloGold Ashanti from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $115.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 6th.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

Shares of AngloGold Ashanti stock opened at $98.32 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $98.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.89. AngloGold Ashanti has a 52 week low of $62.55 and a 52 week high of $129.14. The company has a market capitalization of $49.64 billion, a PE ratio of 13.18 and a beta of 0.74.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The mining company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.03 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.20 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 38.77% and a net margin of 32.19%. As a group, analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is a drop from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 21st. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.70%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AngloGold Ashanti

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 93.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 387,196 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 26.7% during the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 202,909 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $16,413,000 after purchasing an additional 42,714 shares in the last quarter. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 121.9% in the first quarter. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC now owns 272,740 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $26,889,000 after buying an additional 149,855 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 8.7% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,930,737 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $156,214,000 after buying an additional 154,726 shares during the period. Finally, SEB Asset Management AB purchased a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the first quarter valued at $26,190,000. Institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

About AngloGold Ashanti

AngloGold Ashanti plc is a global gold mining company that explores for, develops, and operates gold mines. Its primary product is gold, with silver and other minerals produced as byproducts at some operations. The company also manages mineral exploration, mine development, processing, and related reclamation activities.

AngloGold Ashanti operates across several regions, including Africa, Australia, and the Americas. Its portfolio has included mines and projects in Ghana, Guinea, Tanzania, Australia, Brazil, and Argentina, supported by exploration programs in other prospective mining jurisdictions.