AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Price Target Raised to $111.50

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) had its target price upped by Freedom Broker from $107.00 to $111.50 in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the mining company’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Scotiabank lowered their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $128.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. BMO Capital Markets cut AngloGold Ashanti from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Roth Capital cut their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $121.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Freedom Capital upgraded AngloGold Ashanti to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $118.06.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

NYSE:AU opened at $83.46 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $101.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.42. The stock has a market cap of $42.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.19 and a beta of 0.73. AngloGold Ashanti has a twelve month low of $62.55 and a twelve month high of $129.14.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The mining company reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.20 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 38.77% and a net margin of 32.19%. As a group, research analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti will post 8.18 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 21st were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is a drop from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 21st. AngloGold Ashanti’s payout ratio is presently 6.70%.

Institutional Trading of AngloGold Ashanti

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ascentis Independent Advisors purchased a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. KBC Group NV purchased a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the first quarter worth approximately $55,000. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the second quarter worth about $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

About AngloGold Ashanti

AngloGold Ashanti plc is a global gold mining company engaged in the exploration, development, and operation of gold mines. Its principal product is refined gold, and the company also produces related byproducts at certain operations. In addition to operating mines, AngloGold Ashanti maintains exploration and development projects intended to expand and sustain its production portfolio.

The company has a geographically diversified portfolio spanning Africa, Australia, and the Americas. Its operations and projects have included assets in Ghana, Tanzania, Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Australia, Brazil, and Argentina.