AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $129.14 and last traded at $127.6510, with a volume of 1065585 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $127.77.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AU has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 13th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $122.00 price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Friday, February 20th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $128.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.50.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Down 0.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.58. The company’s 50 day moving average is $101.77 and its 200 day moving average is $81.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.49 and a beta of 0.55.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 20th. The mining company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.90. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 26.65% and a return on equity of 29.70%. On average, research analysts forecast that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.173 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is 70.13%.

Institutional Trading of AngloGold Ashanti

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AU. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 129.0% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 490 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the period. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Optimum Investment Advisors acquired a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

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.