AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $100.50.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AU shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 13th. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $122.00 price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

Shares of AngloGold Ashanti stock opened at $106.58 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.02. AngloGold Ashanti has a one year low of $30.19 and a one year high of $129.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.58 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.54 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.90. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 29.70% and a net margin of 26.65%.The business had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.173 per share. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. AngloGold Ashanti’s payout ratio is currently 133.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,001,047 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,979,174,000 after buying an additional 252,307 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 19,847,932 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,395,905,000 after acquiring an additional 1,804,620 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One SA Pty Ltd purchased a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter worth $1,380,472,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 406.9% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,288,253 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $539,119,000 after acquiring an additional 5,047,686 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,731,937 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $488,820,000 after acquiring an additional 26,421 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

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.