AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Downgraded to “Reduce” at HSBC

HSBC cut shares of AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) from a hold rating to a reduce rating in a report issued on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on AU. StockNews.com raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $23.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AngloGold Ashanti presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $24.25.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Down 7.6 %

Shares of AngloGold Ashanti stock opened at $22.03 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $21.17 and a 200 day moving average of $19.09. AngloGold Ashanti has a 1 year low of $14.91 and a 1 year high of $30.26.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a yield of 1.1%. This is a positive change from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.03. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th.

Institutional Trading of AngloGold Ashanti

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AU. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the fourth quarter worth about $16,260,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 1.6% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 24,900,771 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $393,432,000 after acquiring an additional 383,360 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank purchased a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the third quarter worth about $17,101,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 11.0% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 55,500 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $899,000 after acquiring an additional 5,500 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 306.1% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,272,803 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $20,110,000 after acquiring an additional 959,346 shares during the period. 36.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About AngloGold Ashanti

AngloGold Ashanti plc operates as a gold mining company in Africa, the Americas, and Australia. 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 project located in the Lake Victoria goldfields of the Mwanza region in north-western Tanzania.