AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) Declares Dividend Increase – $0.69 Per Share

AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) declared a semi-annual dividend on Wednesday, February 19th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.69 per share by the mining company on Friday, March 28th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.22.

AngloGold Ashanti has a payout ratio of 13.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect AngloGold Ashanti to earn $4.14 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.44 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 10.6%.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of AU opened at $32.02 on Friday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $27.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.62. AngloGold Ashanti has a 12-month low of $17.01 and a 12-month high of $33.77.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.75 billion. Equities research analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AU has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Thursday. Scotiabank raised AngloGold Ashanti from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $30.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.00.

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.