AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) Receives $114.00 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $114.00.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AU shares. Scotiabank cut 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 report on Friday, March 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Monday, May 11th.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Down 3.1%

Shares of AngloGold Ashanti stock opened at $83.56 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $95.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.48. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. AngloGold Ashanti has a 52-week low of $43.44 and a 52-week high of $129.14. The company has a market cap of $42.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.25 and a beta of 0.60.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.25. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 31.11% and a return on equity of 36.41%. The firm had revenue of $3.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti will post 9.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a $1.16 dividend. This is a boost from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.6%. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.04%.

Institutional Trading of AngloGold Ashanti

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Allen Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 2,832 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $276,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise boosted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 39.4% in the 1st quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 264,855 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $25,706,000 after purchasing an additional 74,855 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 93.6% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 800,951 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $77,981,000 after purchasing an additional 387,196 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 42.8% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,698 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $457,000 after purchasing an additional 1,408 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 94.8% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 212,690 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $20,708,000 after purchasing an additional 103,479 shares in the last quarter. 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.