AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) hit a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as $38.16 and last traded at $37.34, with a volume of 934728 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $36.18.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AU. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AngloGold Ashanti presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Up 2.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.56 and a beta of 0.92. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.16.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The mining company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.75 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a 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 43.13%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AngloGold Ashanti

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 378.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,782 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $127,000 after acquiring an additional 3,782 shares during the last quarter. TT International Asset Management LTD lifted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 51.3% during the third quarter. TT International Asset Management LTD now owns 2,836,110 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $75,525,000 after purchasing an additional 962,141 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 297.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 259,120 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $6,900,000 after purchasing an additional 193,992 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 25,411,814 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $586,504,000 after purchasing an additional 2,491,130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 1,504.8% during the 3rd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 391,715 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $10,419,000 after buying an additional 367,306 shares in the last quarter. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.