Scotiabank Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Stock

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) had its price objective lifted by Scotiabank from $42.00 to $43.50 in a report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Scotiabank currently has a sector perform rating on the mining company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. HSBC restated a “reduce” rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Thursday, April 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $33.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.30.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Down 3.6%

Shares of NYSE AU opened at $39.73 on Monday. AngloGold Ashanti has a one year low of $22.13 and a one year high of $46.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.07 and a beta of 0.48.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 9th. The mining company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. As a group, analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 is a boost from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.8%. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.45%.

Institutional Trading of AngloGold Ashanti

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Whittier Trust Co. purchased a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 210.6% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,174 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 796 shares during the period. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Global Trust Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the first quarter worth $30,000. Finally, MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the first quarter worth $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

About AngloGold Ashanti

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.