AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Trading Up 5.8% After Dividend Announcement

AngloGold Ashanti plc (NYSE:AU) shares rose 5.8% on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as $32.42 and last traded at $32.85. Approximately 616,500 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 2,385,810 shares. The stock had previously closed at $31.05.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.69 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is a positive change from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AU. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Scotiabank raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Down 1.2 %

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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $27.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.65.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.75 billion. Research analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti plc will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 378.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,782 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 3,782 shares in the last quarter. TT International Asset Management LTD raised its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 51.3% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 25,411,814 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $586,504,000 after purchasing an additional 2,491,130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 1,504.8% during the third quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 391,715 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $10,419,000 after purchasing an additional 367,306 shares during the period. 36.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.