AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Trading Down 9.2% – Here’s What Happened

AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AUGet Free Report) shares traded down 9.2% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $92.61 and last traded at $92.64. 1,081,478 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 2,894,676 shares. The stock had previously closed at $102.07.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.00.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on AngloGold Ashanti

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.87 and a quick ratio of 2.20. The stock has a market cap of $47.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.66 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $99.76 and its 200 day moving average is $94.88.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AUGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $3.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 31.11% and a return on equity of 37.17%. As a group, analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 9.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This is a positive change from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. AngloGold Ashanti’s payout ratio is 101.47%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AngloGold Ashanti

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,001,047 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,979,174,000 after acquiring an additional 252,307 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 19,847,932 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,395,905,000 after acquiring an additional 1,804,620 shares during the period. Ninety One SA Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,380,472,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 1.6% during the 1st 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 during the period. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,731,937 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $488,820,000 after acquiring an additional 26,421 shares during the period. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About AngloGold Ashanti

(Get Free Report)

AngloGold Ashanti is a global gold mining company engaged in the exploration, development, production, processing and sale of gold. Headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, the company’s core activities span the full mining value chain from greenfield exploration and mine development through to ore processing and rehabilitation. Gold is the primary commodity produced, with individual operations sometimes yielding other by‑products depending on local geology and processing methods.

The company was formed in 2004 through the merger of AngloGold and Ashanti Goldfields, creating a diversified international gold producer.

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