AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $104.60, but opened at $100.43. AngloGold Ashanti shares last traded at $99.0450, with a volume of 776,825 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AU has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $115.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $111.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Zacks Research raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $113.14.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $97.50 and a 200-day moving average of $95.01. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.20 and a beta of 0.74.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The mining company reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.03 by ($0.05). AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 32.19% and a return on equity of 38.77%. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.20 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Investors of record on Friday, August 21st were paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 21st. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.70%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AngloGold Ashanti

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 1.6% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,386,503 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $620,874,000 after acquiring an additional 98,250 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,121,189 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $436,735,000 after purchasing an additional 191,859 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter valued at $426,477,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 29.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,684,560 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $419,256,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074,822 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 64.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,186,463 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $357,022,000 after buying an additional 1,641,545 shares during the period. 36.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About AngloGold Ashanti

AngloGold Ashanti plc is a global gold mining company that explores for, develops, and operates gold mines. Its primary product is gold, with silver and other minerals produced as byproducts at some operations. The company also manages mineral exploration, mine development, processing, and related reclamation activities.

AngloGold Ashanti operates across several regions, including Africa, Australia, and the Americas. Its portfolio has included mines and projects in Ghana, Guinea, Tanzania, Australia, Brazil, and Argentina, supported by exploration programs in other prospective mining jurisdictions.