AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $34.00.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of AngloGold Ashanti stock opened at $37.00 on Monday. AngloGold Ashanti has a 1-year low of $21.65 and a 1-year high of $38.16. The company has a market capitalization of $15.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.56 and a beta of 0.92. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $31.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The mining company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.75 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.69 dividend. This is a positive change from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.8%. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.13%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AngloGold Ashanti

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 5,799 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Sprott Inc. increased its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Sprott Inc. now owns 91,168 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $2,104,000 after buying an additional 662 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 210.6% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,174 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 796 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 8,860 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $204,000 after acquiring an additional 844 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 10,745 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 910 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

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.