AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Trading 6.1% Higher - What's Next?

Key Points

• AngloGold Ashanti's shares surged 6.1% to a last traded price of $49.05, despite a 46% decline in trading volume compared to average session volume.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on the stock, with one sell, one hold, and six buy ratings, and a price target that varies significantly among firms, ranging from $35.00 to $63.00.
• The company recently reported earnings per share of $1.25, missing estimates, while also cutting its dividend to a yield of 114.0%.

AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 6.1% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $48.78 and last traded at $49.05. 1,691,353 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 46% from the average session volume of 3,145,537 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.25.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the company. HSBC reissued a "reduce" rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Scotiabank raised their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $42.00 to $43.50 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, June 1st. Finally, Roth Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $45.08.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $23.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.93 and a beta of 0.46. The stock's 50 day moving average is $47.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.34 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The mining company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.31 by ($0.06). AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 23.60% and a return on equity of 24.25%. The business had revenue of $2.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 22nd. This is a positive change from AngloGold Ashanti's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.69. This represents a dividend yield of 610.0%. AngloGold Ashanti's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.30%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,002,449 shares of the mining company's stock worth $787,791,000 after buying an additional 145,125 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake 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 worth $118,448,000 after purchasing an additional 3,764,165 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 2.4% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 3,767.1% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,751,410 shares of the mining company's stock worth $63,503,000 after purchasing an additional 2,680,261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 68.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,569,868 shares of the mining company's stock worth $59,313,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045,335 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 36.09% of the company's stock.

AngloGold Ashanti Company Profile

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.