Brokerages Set AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) PT at $58.00

Shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $58.00.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Monday, August 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Roth Capital set a $76.00 target price on AngloGold Ashanti and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. HSBC restated a “reduce” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AngloGold Ashanti

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AU. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 1,175.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,967,173 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $226,354,000 after purchasing an additional 4,577,807 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 1,767.5% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,788,123 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $127,027,000 after purchasing an additional 2,638,823 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 274.6% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,137,721 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $142,986,000 after purchasing an additional 2,300,204 shares during the last quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the first quarter valued at approximately $63,186,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the second quarter valued at approximately $74,039,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

Shares of AU stock opened at $78.52 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $32.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.88 and a beta of 0.53. The business’s 50 day moving average is $63.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.36. The company has a current ratio of 2.99, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. AngloGold Ashanti has a 12-month low of $22.45 and a 12-month high of $79.94.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The mining company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $2.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 22.54% and a net margin of 23.60%. Analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 610.0%. This is a boost from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 22nd. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.11%.

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.