AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Reaches New 52-Week High After Dividend Announcement

AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) shares hit a new 52-week high on Monday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $121.92 and last traded at $120.4240, with a volume of 1388707 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $114.25.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.173 per share. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on AU shares. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $122.00 price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Friday. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $92.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Up 5.0%

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $97.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.51. The stock has a market cap of $60.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.07 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 20th. The mining company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 29.70% and a net margin of 26.65%.The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,001,047 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,979,174,000 after acquiring an additional 252,307 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 10.0% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 19,847,932 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,395,905,000 after purchasing an additional 1,804,620 shares during the period. Ninety One SA Pty Ltd bought a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter worth $1,380,472,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 406.9% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,288,253 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $539,119,000 after buying an additional 5,047,686 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,731,937 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $488,820,000 after buying an additional 26,421 shares during the last quarter. 36.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.