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 $101.08, but opened at $113.30. AngloGold Ashanti shares last traded at $107.3060, with a volume of 1,409,338 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AU. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $122.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.20.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $54.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.82 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $104.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $89.50. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

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

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a $0.173 dividend. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 133.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AU. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 129.0% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 490 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Optimum Investment Advisors bought a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the third quarter valued at about $35,000. 36.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.