AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $92.00 and last traded at $91.7410, with a volume of 539536 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $88.47.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on AU. HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Roth Capital increased their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AngloGold Ashanti presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $39.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.59 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $81.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $66.46.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The mining company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.53 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 26.25% and a return on equity of 24.01%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 28th were issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 28th. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.18%.

Institutional Trading of AngloGold Ashanti

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AU. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 2.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,748,740 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,589,484,000 after purchasing an additional 464,333 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 19,847,932 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,395,905,000 after buying an additional 1,804,620 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,705,516 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $401,269,000 after buying an additional 738,343 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,136,739 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $361,310,000 after buying an additional 284,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 3,197,861 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $149,212,000 after buying an additional 140,410 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

About AngloGold Ashanti

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.