AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

by · The Cerbat Gem

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU – Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. HSBC reaffirmed a “reduce” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a report on Thursday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $128.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Roth Capital set a $76.00 target price on AngloGold Ashanti and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.00.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on AngloGold Ashanti

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of AU stock opened at $84.45 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $62.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.60 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.58 and a quick ratio of 1.98. AngloGold Ashanti has a 1 year low of $22.45 and a 1 year high of $89.19.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The mining company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.53 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a return on equity of 24.01% and a net margin of 26.25%. As a group, analysts anticipate that AngloGold Ashanti will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

AngloGold Ashanti Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AngloGold Ashanti

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AU. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in AngloGold Ashanti by 2.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,748,740 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,589,484,000 after buying an additional 464,333 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 10.0% during 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 during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 14.9% during 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 period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,136,739 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $361,310,000 after purchasing an additional 284,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 4.6% in the 2nd 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

About AngloGold Ashanti

(Get Free Report)

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.

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