AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $91.25, but opened at $86.25. AngloGold Ashanti shares last traded at $84.60, with a volume of 654,853 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on AU. HSBC restated a “reduce” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $128.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AngloGold Ashanti presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Down 6.4%

The company has a market capitalization of $35.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.80 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 2.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $78.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $64.89.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The mining company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.02). AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 26.25% and a return on equity of 24.01%. The business had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.53 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 28th were paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 28th. AngloGold Ashanti’s payout ratio is 80.18%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AU. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,748,740 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,589,484,000 after purchasing an additional 464,333 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 19,847,932 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,395,905,000 after acquiring an additional 1,804,620 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,705,516 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $401,269,000 after acquiring an additional 738,343 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,136,739 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $361,310,000 after acquiring an additional 284,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 4.6% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 3,197,861 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $149,212,000 after purchasing an additional 140,410 shares during the last quarter. 36.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About AngloGold Ashanti

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.