AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday. The mining company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, Zacks reports.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

AU opened at $41.87 on Friday. AngloGold Ashanti has a 12-month low of $22.13 and a 12-month high of $46.90. The company has a market cap of $17.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.08 and a beta of 0.48. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $37.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.78.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AU has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $33.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $34.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Thursday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.00.

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.