AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Shares Up 6.5% After Analyst Upgrade

AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) was up 6.5% during trading on Monday after Zacks Research upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating. The stock traded as high as $111.77 and last traded at $113.1820. Approximately 675,958 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 2,436,878 shares. The stock had previously closed at $106.26.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $128.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Citigroup upped their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. HSBC reaffirmed a “reduce” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.00.

Institutional Trading of AngloGold Ashanti

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ninety One SA Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter valued at $1,380,472,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 1,175.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,967,173 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $226,354,000 after purchasing an additional 4,577,807 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 1,767.5% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,788,123 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $127,027,000 after purchasing an additional 2,638,823 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 274.6% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,137,721 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $142,986,000 after purchasing an additional 2,300,204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake 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 buying an additional 1,804,620 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Up 5.7%

The business’s fifty day moving average is $90.41 and its 200-day moving average is $72.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.58. The firm has a market cap of $48.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.49 and a beta of 0.58.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The mining company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.53 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 26.25% and a return on equity of 24.01%. Analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 28th were given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 28th. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is 80.18%.

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.