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

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

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AU shares. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 6th.

Institutional Trading of AngloGold Ashanti

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AU. Whittier Trust Co. bought a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 210.6% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of AU stock opened at $37.00 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.53 billion, a PE ratio of 11.56 and a beta of 0.92. AngloGold Ashanti has a 52-week low of $21.65 and a 52-week high of $38.16. The business’s fifty day moving average is $31.69 and its 200 day moving average is $28.15. 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 results on Wednesday, February 19th. The mining company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.75 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.69 dividend. This represents a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.22. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.13%.

About AngloGold Ashanti

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.