Brokerages Set AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) Price Target at $34.00

AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $34.00.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AU. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Scotiabank raised their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, StockNews.com cut AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of AngloGold Ashanti stock opened at $31.29 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.78 and a beta of 0.92. AngloGold Ashanti has a twelve month low of $20.05 and a twelve month high of $33.77.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The mining company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.75 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. This is a positive change from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.22. This represents a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.13%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AngloGold Ashanti

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AU. Whittier Trust Co. bought a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 210.6% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,174 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 796 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter valued at $69,000. 36.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.