AngloGold Ashanti’s (AU) Outperform Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reissued their outperform rating on shares of AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a $36.00 target price on the mining company’s stock.

AU has been the topic of a number of other reports. StockNews.com cut 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of AU stock opened at $32.02 on Thursday. AngloGold Ashanti has a 52-week low of $17.01 and a 52-week high of $33.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $27.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.62.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The mining company reported $0.89 earnings per share (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. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.69 dividend. This is a boost from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.22. This represents a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AngloGold Ashanti

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Whittier Trust Co. acquired a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 210.6% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,174 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 796 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter worth about $69,000. 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.