Brokerages Set AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) Price Target at $100.33

AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $112.20.

Several research firms have commented on AU. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:AU opened at $101.45 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $51.22 billion, a PE ratio of 19.55 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 2.87, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. AngloGold Ashanti has a 12-month low of $31.91 and a 12-month high of $129.14. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $104.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $89.01.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 20th. The mining company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 29.11% and a net margin of 26.65%.The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a $0.173 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 133.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,777 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc increased its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 4,246 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $362,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,572 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $305,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 31,919 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $2,245,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 33.4% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 599 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. 36.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About AngloGold Ashanti

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.