AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Trading Up 4.4% – Here’s What Happened

AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU)’s share price traded up 4.4% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $38.17 and last traded at $38.04. 736,767 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 2,418,675 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.42.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AU shares. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.25.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average is $33.51 and its 200-day moving average is $28.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.98 billion, a PE ratio of 13.39 and a beta of 0.81.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last released 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.75 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.22. This represents a yield of 2.8%. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is 43.13%.

Institutional Trading of AngloGold Ashanti

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the first quarter worth approximately $221,000. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 194.3% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 31,619 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,174,000 after purchasing an additional 20,874 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 3,533.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 92,206 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $3,423,000 after acquiring an additional 89,668 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $392,000. Finally, Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ acquired a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter worth $2,115,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.