AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Trading Down 13.3% – Time to Sell?

Shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) were down 13.3% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $110.04 and last traded at $111.1910. Approximately 1,334,491 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 54% from the average daily volume of 2,886,472 shares. The stock had previously closed at $128.26.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on AU shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $128.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 13th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.50.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $56.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.74 and a beta of 0.55. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $103.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.05.

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. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 29.70% and a net margin of 26.65%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.173 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.13%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 129.0% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 490 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Optimum Investment Advisors purchased a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. 36.09% of the stock is currently 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.