AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

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

AU has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $128.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Zacks Research cut AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.33.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Down 4.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.87 and a quick ratio of 2.20. The company has a market cap of $43.28 billion, a PE ratio of 16.52 and a beta of 0.55. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $105.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $87.32.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last released 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. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 26.65% and a return on equity of 29.11%. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given 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 yield of 0.8%. AngloGold Ashanti’s payout ratio is presently 133.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ninety One SA Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the fourth quarter valued at $1,380,472,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 406.9% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,288,253 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $539,119,000 after buying an additional 5,047,686 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter worth about $426,477,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 1,175.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,967,173 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $226,354,000 after acquiring an additional 4,577,807 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 5,109.9% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,082,326 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $179,286,000 after acquiring an additional 2,042,357 shares during the period. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.