AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $118.35

Key Points

• Analysts are broadly bullish: Fourteen firms give AngloGold Ashanti a consensus “Buy” rating, with an average 12-month price target of $118.35.
• The shares fell 1.6% to $86.22. Quarterly results missed expectations, with EPS of $1.54 versus $1.76 forecast and revenue of $2.62 billion versus $2.89 billion expected.
• The quarterly dividend was cut to $0.125 per share from $0.72, equivalent to an annualized dividend of $0.50 and a 0.6% yield.

Shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from the fourteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have given a buy recommendation and three have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $118.35.

A number of analysts have recently commented on AU shares. TD Securities initiated coverage on AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Monday, November 2nd. They set a "strong-buy" rating for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $111.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Weiss Ratings raised AngloGold Ashanti from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Freedom Broker upped their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $107.00 to $111.50 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. They set a "buy" rating and a $104.00 price target for the company.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Down 1.6%

NYSE AU traded down $1.38 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $86.22. 2,716,046 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,564,418. The business's 50 day moving average is $93.82 and its 200-day moving average is $96.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a current ratio of 2.71. AngloGold Ashanti has a 12-month low of $73.40 and a 12-month high of $129.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.21 and a beta of 0.72.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The mining company reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.22). AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 39.17% and a net margin of 32.63%. The company had revenue of $2.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.89 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti will post 7.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Investors of record on Friday, November 27th will be given a dividend of $0.1250 per share. This is a drop from AngloGold Ashanti's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 27th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. AngloGold Ashanti's dividend payout ratio is currently 6.50%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AngloGold Ashanti

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ninety One SA Pty Ltd lifted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 1.8% during the third quarter. Ninety One SA Pty Ltd now owns 11,398,551 shares of the mining company's stock worth $1,069,147,000 after purchasing an additional 203,418 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,386,503 shares of the mining company's stock worth $620,874,000 after acquiring an additional 98,250 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 10.2% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,549,416 shares of the mining company's stock worth $239,532,000 after purchasing an additional 236,005 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 8.7% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,930,737 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $156,214,000 after purchasing an additional 154,726 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the second quarter valued at $100,848,000. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About AngloGold Ashanti

AngloGold Ashanti is a global gold mining company that explores for, develops and operates gold mines. Gold is its primary product, and the company also produces silver and other by-products at some operations. The company's operations and projects span Africa, Australia and the Americas. Its portfolio includes mines and development projects in countries such as Ghana, Tanzania, Guinea, Australia, Brazil and Argentina. AngloGold Ashanti was formed in 1998 through the consolidation of gold mining interests held by Anglo American in South Africa.

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