AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $85.81, but opened at $91.96. AngloGold Ashanti shares last traded at $90.2850, with a volume of 982,836 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AU has been the subject of several analyst reports. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $122.00 price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Friday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on AngloGold Ashanti from $128.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Zacks Research lowered AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Citigroup upped their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.33.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $45.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.31 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $105.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.87.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 20th. The mining company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 29.11% and a net margin of 26.65%. As a group, research analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.173 dividend. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 133.33%.

Institutional Trading of AngloGold Ashanti

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 129.0% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 490 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Optimum Investment Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

About AngloGold Ashanti

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.