AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Stock Price Down 5% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• AngloGold Ashanti's stock price fell 5% to $73.64, with a significant decrease in trading volume, down 68% from the average.
• Analysts have issued mixed ratings on the stock, with price targets ranging from $55.00 to $63.00 and a consensus rating of "Hold."
• The company recently increased its semi-annual dividend to $0.80, up from $0.69, resulting in a substantial dividend yield of 610.0%.

AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) shares fell 5% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $73.14 and last traded at $73.64. 1,014,140 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 3,130,992 shares. The stock had previously closed at $77.49.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on AU. HSBC reissued a "reduce" rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Scotiabank reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen raised AngloGold Ashanti from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Zacks Research raised AngloGold Ashanti from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $58.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Down 6.8%

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $61.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.99 and a quick ratio of 2.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.20 and a beta of 0.53.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.31 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $2.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 23.60% and a return on equity of 22.54%. On average, equities analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were issued a $0.80 dividend. This is a boost from AngloGold Ashanti's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.69. This represents a dividend yield of 610.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 22nd. AngloGold Ashanti's dividend payout ratio is currently 85.11%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AU. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 6.1% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,284,407 shares of the mining company's stock worth $1,017,746,000 after acquiring an additional 1,281,958 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 1,175.7% during the second 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 during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 1.8% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,852,722 shares of the mining company's stock worth $219,100,000 after acquiring an additional 87,679 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 95,668 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi grew its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 4.6% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 3,197,861 shares of the mining company's stock worth $149,212,000 after acquiring an additional 140,410 shares during the period. 36.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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