AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Shares Gap Up - Still a Buy?

Shares of AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $42.88, but opened at $44.46. AngloGold Ashanti shares last traded at $44.25, with a volume of 615,692 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AU shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $33.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. HSBC reaffirmed a "reduce" rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective 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. Scotiabank raised their price objective 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AngloGold Ashanti presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $41.30.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Up 2.0%

The business has a 50-day moving average of $40.08 and a 200-day moving average of $32.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.46 and a beta of 0.48.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 9th. The mining company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of AngloGold Ashanti

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 25,411,814 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $586,504,000 after buying an additional 2,491,130 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 0.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,002,449 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $787,791,000 after buying an additional 145,125 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 274.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,133,744 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $118,448,000 after acquiring an additional 3,764,165 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 2.4% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,041,932 shares of the mining company's stock worth $150,054,000 after purchasing an additional 95,668 shares during the period. Finally, Carrhae Capital LLP increased its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 170.0% during the fourth quarter. Carrhae Capital LLP now owns 3,459,193 shares of the mining company's stock worth $79,838,000 after purchasing an additional 2,177,783 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.