AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Reaches New 52-Week High After Dividend Announcement

AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $121.92 and last traded at $120.4240, with a volume of 1388707 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $114.25.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.173 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Scotiabank increased their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $92.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $128.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 13th. Zacks Research raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $122.00 price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AngloGold Ashanti has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Up 5.9%

The stock has a market capitalization of $61.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.31 and a beta of 0.59. The company’s 50 day moving average is $98.52 and its 200 day moving average is $79.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.58.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 20th. The mining company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.90. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 26.65% and a return on equity of 29.70%. On average, research analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AngloGold Ashanti

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 14.2% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,675,740 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $76,376,000 after purchasing an additional 207,923 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank acquired a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,270,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC bought a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,408,000. Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the 3rd quarter valued at about $887,000. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 259,363 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $18,241,000 after buying an additional 18,457 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

AngloGold Ashanti Company Profile

AngloGold Ashanti is a global gold mining company engaged in the exploration, development, production, processing and sale of gold. Headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, the company’s core activities span the full mining value chain from greenfield exploration and mine development through to ore processing and rehabilitation. Gold is the primary commodity produced, with individual operations sometimes yielding other by‑products depending on local geology and processing methods.

The company was formed in 2004 through the merger of AngloGold and Ashanti Goldfields, creating a diversified international gold producer.