AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• AngloGold Ashanti PLC has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from eight analysts, with a 12-month target price averaging $58.00.
• The company announced a semi-annual dividend increase, paying $0.80 per share, up from the previous $0.69, reflecting a high dividend yield.
• AngloGold Ashanti reported earnings of $1.25 per share for the last quarter, which fell short of estimates, but surpassed revenue expectations with $2.45 billion.

Shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the eight analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $58.00.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AU. Scotiabank reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. HSBC reissued a "reduce" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised AngloGold Ashanti from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th.

Institutional Trading of AngloGold Ashanti

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,284,407 shares of the mining company's stock worth $1,017,746,000 after purchasing an additional 1,281,958 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 4,577,807 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 87,679 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 2.4% during the 1st 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 lifted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 4.6% during the 2nd 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 currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

NYSE AU opened at $72.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a current ratio of 2.99. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $61.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.03. AngloGold Ashanti has a 52-week low of $22.45 and a 52-week high of $77.80. The company has a market cap of $30.30 billion, a PE ratio of 19.20 and a beta of 0.53.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The mining company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.31 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $2.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 23.60% and a return on equity of 22.54%. Sell-side analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd were paid a $0.80 dividend. This is a boost from AngloGold Ashanti's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 22nd. This represents a yield of 610.0%. AngloGold Ashanti's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.11%.

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.

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