Stock Traders Buy High Volume of AngloGold Ashanti Call Options (NYSE:AU)

AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders acquired 68,797 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 1,505% compared to the typical volume of 4,287 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AngloGold Ashanti

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AU. Amalgamated Bank acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the second quarter worth approximately $1,270,000. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 102.6% in the second quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 13,101 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $597,000 after acquiring an additional 6,636 shares in the last quarter. Forefront Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 46.8% during the second quarter. Forefront Wealth Management Inc. now owns 56,545 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $2,577,000 after purchasing an additional 18,016 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the first quarter worth about $5,538,000. Finally, U S Global Investors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 65,000 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $2,962,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Up 5.3%

AU stock traded up $4.50 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $88.86. The company had a trading volume of 1,952,630 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,149,785. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a current ratio of 2.99. The company has a market capitalization of $37.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.63 and a beta of 0.48. AngloGold Ashanti has a fifty-two week low of $22.45 and a fifty-two week high of $89.15.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 11th. The mining company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.02). AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 22.54% and a net margin of 23.60%.The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.53 billion. Analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 28th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 28th. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on AU. Weiss Ratings upgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Zacks Research upgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $76.00 price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AngloGold Ashanti presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.50.

About AngloGold Ashanti

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.