AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) shares gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $85.81, but opened at $91.96. AngloGold Ashanti shares last traded at $90.2850, with a volume of 982,836 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AU shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Citigroup raised their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings raised AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $128.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.33.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.87, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $105.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $87.31. The firm has a market cap of $45.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.31 and a beta of 0.55.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 20th. The mining company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.90. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 26.65% and a return on equity of 29.11%. Analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.173 dividend. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is presently 133.33%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AngloGold Ashanti

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Up Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter worth $4,228,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 28.0% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 22,070 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,882,000 after purchasing an additional 4,825 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the fourth quarter valued at about $295,000. Reflection Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter worth about $266,000. 36.09% of the stock is 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.