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

Shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $43.42.

AU has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Roth Capital boosted their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $33.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. HSBC reissued a "reduce" rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $42.00 to $43.50 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $392,000. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors bought a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the first quarter worth approximately $221,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter worth approximately $406,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 47.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 381,627 shares of the mining company's stock worth $8,808,000 after purchasing an additional 122,507 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 59.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 520,772 shares of the mining company's stock worth $12,019,000 after purchasing an additional 193,664 shares in the last quarter. 36.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:AU traded down $0.01 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $46.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,914,491 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,866,101. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 2.34. AngloGold Ashanti has a fifty-two week low of $22.45 and a fifty-two week high of $51.11. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $44.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.17. The company has a market capitalization of $19.58 billion, a PE ratio of 15.35 and a beta of 0.48.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 9th. The mining company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.84 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 21.18% and a net margin of 21.09%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

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

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.