AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) shares gapped up prior to trading on Friday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $32.00 to $37.00. The stock had previously closed at $26.76, but opened at $27.35. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. AngloGold Ashanti shares last traded at $27.39, with a volume of 569,140 shares trading hands.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on AU. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $28.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Scotiabank reissued a “sector underperform” rating and issued a $30.00 target price (up previously from $27.00) on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.67.

Institutional Trading of AngloGold Ashanti

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AU. Ritholtz Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $222,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 87.0% during the 3rd quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 16,907 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $450,000 after purchasing an additional 7,864 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 30.6% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 119,500 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $3,182,000 after purchasing an additional 28,000 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $126,000. Finally, Creative Planning increased its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 18.2% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 17,961 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $451,000 after acquiring an additional 2,768 shares in the last quarter. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Up 1.6 %

The firm’s fifty day moving average is $28.74 and its 200 day moving average is $26.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The mining company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.17 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.7%.

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.