AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Price Target Raised to $43.50

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) had its target price upped by Scotiabank from $42.00 to $43.50 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a sector perform rating on the mining company’s stock.

AU has been the topic of several other reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $33.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. HSBC reaffirmed a “reduce” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AngloGold Ashanti has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.30.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

AU opened at $39.73 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $16.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.07 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $38.36 and a 200 day moving average of $31.09. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $22.13 and a fifty-two week high of $46.90.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 9th. The mining company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. On average, research analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.69 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is an increase from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AngloGold Ashanti

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 25,411,814 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $586,504,000 after buying an additional 2,491,130 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 0.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,002,449 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $787,791,000 after purchasing an additional 145,125 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 274.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,133,744 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $118,448,000 after purchasing an additional 3,764,165 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 2.4% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,041,932 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $150,054,000 after purchasing an additional 95,668 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Carrhae Capital LLP raised its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 170.0% in the fourth quarter. Carrhae Capital LLP now owns 3,459,193 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $79,838,000 after purchasing an additional 2,177,783 shares in the last quarter. 36.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.