AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Price Target Raised to $134.00

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) had its target price boosted by Scotiabank from $131.00 to $134.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the mining company’s stock.

A number of other equities 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 research note on Saturday, December 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $122.00 price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Friday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target 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, Citigroup lifted their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.50.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

NYSE AU opened at $127.73 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $101.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.58. AngloGold Ashanti has a 52-week low of $28.44 and a 52-week high of $128.54. The company has a market capitalization of $64.49 billion, a PE ratio of 24.61 and a beta of 0.59.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 20th. The mining company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 29.70% and a net margin of 26.65%. On average, research analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.173 per share. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. AngloGold Ashanti’s payout ratio is currently 70.13%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AngloGold Ashanti

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AU. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 14.2% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,675,740 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $76,376,000 after purchasing an additional 207,923 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the second quarter worth $1,270,000. Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. purchased a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the third quarter valued at approximately $887,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the third quarter worth about $1,408,000. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 7.7% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 259,363 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $18,241,000 after acquiring an additional 18,457 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

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.