AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Trading Down 7.5% – Time to Sell?
by Danessa Lincoln · The Markets DailyAngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU – Get Free Report) dropped 7.5% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $89.21 and last traded at $89.59. Approximately 819,109 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 2,838,495 shares. The stock had previously closed at $96.84.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
AU has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen raised AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Zacks Research downgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Scotiabank cut their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AngloGold Ashanti has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.00.
AngloGold Ashanti Trading Down 6.3%
The firm has a market capitalization of $45.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.31 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $97.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $96.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.87, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.
AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $3.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 37.17% and a net margin of 31.11%. As a group, research analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 9.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.1%. This is an increase from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. AngloGold Ashanti’s payout ratio is presently 68.04%.
Institutional Trading of AngloGold Ashanti
Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allen Capital Group LLC raised its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 2,832 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $276,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the period. Groupe la Francaise raised its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 39.4% during the 1st quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 264,855 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $25,706,000 after buying an additional 74,855 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 93.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 800,951 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $77,981,000 after buying an additional 387,196 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 42.8% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,698 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 1,408 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 94.8% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 212,690 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $20,708,000 after purchasing an additional 103,479 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.
AngloGold Ashanti Company Profile
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.