AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The mining company reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.03 by ($0.05), FiscalAI reports. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 31.11% and a return on equity of 36.41%. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.20 billion.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Down 3.8%

NYSE AU traded down $3.16 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $79.17. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,344,615 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,992,036. AngloGold Ashanti has a twelve month low of $45.36 and a twelve month high of $129.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.61 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $84.53 and a 200 day moving average of $96.27.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This is an increase from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $155.00 to $134.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $114.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $110.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,731,937 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $488,820,000 after buying an additional 26,421 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,791,584 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $238,066,000 after purchasing an additional 119,355 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 5,109.9% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,082,326 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $179,286,000 after purchasing an additional 2,042,357 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 27.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,038,986 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $173,885,000 after purchasing an additional 433,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 10.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,849,121 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $129,841,000 after purchasing an additional 173,381 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.