AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the six brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $41.30.

A number of brokerages recently commented on AU. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Scotiabank lifted their price target 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. HSBC restated a "reduce" rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 1st.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

Shares of AU traded down $1.25 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $45.13. The stock had a trading volume of 2,535,939 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,635,878. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.85 and a beta of 0.49. The company's fifty day moving average is $41.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.14. AngloGold Ashanti has a 52 week low of $22.15 and a 52 week high of $48.10.

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

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AngloGold Ashanti

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AU. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,857,324 shares of the mining company's stock worth $467,795,000 after purchasing an additional 3,882,283 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 274.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,133,744 shares of the mining company's stock worth $118,448,000 after buying an additional 3,764,165 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 3,767.1% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,751,410 shares of the mining company's stock worth $63,503,000 after buying an additional 2,680,261 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 2,491,130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Carrhae Capital LLP increased its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 170.0% in the fourth quarter. Carrhae Capital LLP now owns 3,459,193 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $79,838,000 after acquiring an additional 2,177,783 shares during 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.