AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $28.00, but opened at $28.88. AngloGold Ashanti shares last traded at $29.01, with a volume of 1,132,610 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on AU. StockNews.com raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Investec raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector underperform” rating and set a $30.00 price objective (up from $27.00) on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $28.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.67.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Up 2.7 %

The company has a market capitalization of $12.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.48 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $28.74 and its 200-day moving average is $26.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The mining company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.17 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This is an increase from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.19. This represents a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.75%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AngloGold Ashanti

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AU. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 7.6% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 27,747,289 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $615,990,000 after purchasing an additional 1,948,322 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,808,722 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $373,154,000 after purchasing an additional 65,025 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 5.6% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,396,216 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $75,396,000 after purchasing an additional 181,081 shares during the period. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. grew its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 24.3% in the first quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 2,201,551 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $48,874,000 after purchasing an additional 431,025 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 23.0% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,032,491 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $37,987,000 after purchasing an additional 379,701 shares during the period. 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.