AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Sets New 52-Week High - Here's Why

AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $47.77 and last traded at $47.47, with a volume of 4142968 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $43.81.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AU has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $33.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $42.00 to $43.50 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday. HSBC reiterated a "reduce" rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $41.30.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Down 0.7%

The business's fifty day simple moving average is $41.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market cap of $19.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.17 and a beta of 0.49.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 9th. The mining company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. As a group, analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a $0.125 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. AngloGold Ashanti's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the 4th quarter valued at about $406,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 25,411,814 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $586,504,000 after purchasing an additional 2,491,130 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd bought a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,043,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 47.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 381,627 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $8,808,000 after purchasing an additional 122,507 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aubrey Capital Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,163,000. Institutional investors own 36.09% of the company's stock.

About AngloGold Ashanti

AngloGold Ashanti plc operates as a gold mining company in Africa, Australia, and the Americas. The company primarily explores for gold, as well as produces silver and sulphuric acid as by-products. Its flagship property is a 100% owned Geita mine located in the Lake Victoria goldfields of the Mwanza region in north-western Tanzania.