AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Releases Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.22 EPS

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The mining company reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.22), FiscalAI reports. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 38.77% and a net margin of 32.19%. The company had revenue of $2.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.89 billion.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AU traded up $4.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $92.96. The company had a trading volume of 3,510,141 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,346,659. The company has a market capitalization of $46.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.09 and a beta of 0.72. AngloGold Ashanti has a 1 year low of $67.82 and a 1 year high of $129.14. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $95.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $96.52.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 27th will be given a $0.1250 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is a drop from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 27th. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on AU. Freedom Broker raised their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $107.00 to $111.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Zacks Research upgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. RBC Dominion Securities set a $110.00 price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $111.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AngloGold Ashanti presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $118.35.

Key AngloGold Ashanti News

Here are the key news stories impacting AngloGold Ashanti this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AngloGold plans to invest about $900 million in mine expansions to increase production by 2030. The spending targets existing operations and offers a potential longer-term production-growth catalyst. Article: AngloGold plans $900 million mine expansion amid stronger profit
• Positive Sentiment: Third-quarter profit rose 18%, and coverage of the earnings call highlighted strong free cash flow, providing some support despite weaker production. Article: AngloGold Profit Up 18% as Gold Output Slips
• Negative Sentiment: Quarterly results fell short of expectations: EPS was $1.54 versus the $1.76 consensus, while revenue of $2.62 billion was below the $2.89 billion forecast. Gold output also slipped, tempering the profit growth.
• Negative Sentiment: The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.125 per share, an 82.6% reduction from the prior $0.72 payment. The lower payout may weigh on income-focused investors.

About AngloGold Ashanti

AngloGold Ashanti is a global gold mining company that explores for, develops and operates gold mines. Gold is its primary product, and the company also produces silver and other by-products at some operations.

The company’s operations and projects span Africa, Australia and the Americas. Its portfolio includes mines and development projects in countries such as Ghana, Tanzania, Guinea, Australia, Brazil and Argentina.

AngloGold Ashanti was formed in 1998 through the consolidation of gold mining interests held by Anglo American in South Africa.