AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

AU has been the topic of several other reports. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $122.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Friday. Citigroup boosted their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 13th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $92.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Stock Up 2.9%

AU stock opened at $124.67 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $99.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $80.42. The company has a market cap of $62.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.02 and a beta of 0.59. AngloGold Ashanti has a 12-month low of $28.44 and a 12-month high of $125.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 2.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ninety One SA Pty Ltd acquired a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter worth $1,380,472,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 406.9% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,288,253 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $539,119,000 after purchasing an additional 5,047,686 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti in the fourth quarter worth about $426,477,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 1,175.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,967,173 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $226,354,000 after purchasing an additional 4,577,807 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 1,767.5% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,788,123 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $127,027,000 after purchasing an additional 2,638,823 shares during the period. 36.09% of the stock is currently 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.