AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by Wall Street Zen

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Citigroup upped their price objective on AngloGold Ashanti from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings raised AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $122.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price target on AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AngloGold Ashanti currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.33.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Up 3.9%

AngloGold Ashanti stock opened at $89.05 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.50. The company has a market cap of $44.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.16 and a beta of 0.55. AngloGold Ashanti has a 52-week low of $31.91 and a 52-week high of $129.14. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 20th. The mining company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.90. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 26.65% and a return on equity of 29.11%. Analysts predict that AngloGold Ashanti will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of AngloGold Ashanti

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AU. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,777 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc raised its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 4,246 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $362,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,572 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $305,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 0.5% in the third quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 31,919 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $2,245,000 after buying an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 33.4% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 599 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.