AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Roth Capital

Roth Capital assumed coverage on shares of AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) in a research report report published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $52.00 price objective on the mining company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $33.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $42.00 to $43.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.08.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Up 6.4%

NYSE:AU opened at $48.81 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.74. AngloGold Ashanti has a one year low of $22.34 and a one year high of $49.15. The firm has a market cap of $20.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.06 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.73.

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

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position 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 during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,002,449 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $787,791,000 after purchasing an additional 145,125 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 274.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,133,744 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $118,448,000 after purchasing an additional 3,764,165 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 2.4% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,041,932 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $150,054,000 after purchasing an additional 95,668 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Carrhae Capital LLP raised its stake 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 worth $79,838,000 after purchasing an additional 2,177,783 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.